Painting Revolution
by Ci.Ci Writes
Summary: Marinette didn't expect going into her job that she would be doing this, slinking through alleys at night to destroy her countries leader's reputation. She didn't think she'd be scaling buildings or billboards, either. Yet here she was, doing just e'd save her country even if she had to spend every cent on spray paint. AGED UP AU/ NO POWERS AU
1. Chapter 1

**A/U: I'd like you all to know that the government I'm portraying in this is in no way like France's government AT ALL. I've sort of meshed a lot of different governments and government ideas together to make this, simply to avoid any drama or insults. It might seem a tiny bit ooc for marinette, but I figure with age and experience she would grow into a more 'ladybug' type of person. This is un-beta'd so please forgive mistakes, let me know if anything is super glaring as I can't find everything. Thank you all for reading! This is also posted on Ao3 under my name.**

* * *

 **Chapter One: A Reason to Rebel**

* * *

Marinette Dupain-Cheng, 23 years old, hadn't walked into her job hating her boss. As a matter of fact, she was ecstatic in the beginning.

Like many, _many_ others, Marinette had been charmed by Gabriel Agreste during his political campaign. He was young, for a politician, and oozed charisma. She had believed the man when he claimed that he was what France needed to get back on track again. After years of economic struggle, Gabriel was like a breath of fresh air. Marinette had been charmed, and had helped coordinate multiple public rallies, fundraisers; anything she could to support him.

That was why she'd been offered the job in the first place. Her ability to organize such events and her unwavering loyalty gained her a position as his personal assistant. She'd found a place interacting with her political idol, and a paid internship for her college. What more could she ask for, honestly?

However, once he attained power, it became obvious that change wouldn't be quite as easy as the public had hoped. As his personal assistant, Marinette saw first hand what his schedule had become. Constantly in meetings, constantly involved in one struggle or another. His ideas could bring them back from the brink, but they would need time for that to happen.

Alya, her closest friend and roommate, wasn't quite so quick to believe. Her thought was that he was too good to be true, too formulated and precise. While Marinette had been planning rallies, she'd been digging into his history. She claimed he couldn't be trusted, that there were too many hazy details from his prior positions, but Marinette refused to believe her. After all, she would've noticed if the man wasn't as he seemed.

She didn't even consider that Alya's warnings could hold any weight until her first year in. One day, as she was looking over appointments to schedule with Gabriel's council members, she realized not a singular name on her list had been in the council from the beginning of her superior's term. Normally, a few members from past leader's councils would be replaced over time when someone new came into office, but never all of them. Why would everyone be gone; it was nonsensical. How had she not noticed?

Something was strange, her instincts were screaming at her. She tried to push the nagging feeling aside but it just wouldn't back off. There were doubts, plenty of doubts. Maybe she was overreacting—overthinking? Perhaps there was a logical reason for an entirely new council..but if there wasn't? What then?

She decided that like Alya, she would find information on her employer, but not his past. _His present._

It wasn't until she was scheduled to oversee a meeting for Gabriel's new policies for economics and business that she became truly certain her boss wasn't who she had hoped he'd be during elections. As he listed off what he wanted to do she noted it was almost a polar opposite of what he claimed he'd do a year before. And because it was an entirely new council, all handpicked by the man himself—of course he'd get his way.

Her eyes met those of his son, Adrien, during that meeting. She saw her own confusion reflected there, an unease that spoke that not even he had expected such a turn around. For some reason, that was comforting _and_ dissatisfying. Knowing that not even his own _son_ had a clue about his father's true nature.

As she expected; Gabriel's enacted plans made lifer harder for every citizen in Paris. Taxes had been raised on almost everything, businesses were forced to comply with new restrictions that plummeted overall sales. It was no surprise to her when she saw stocks drop, signs of national bankruptcy beginning to rise. It was to be expected given the nation's leader.

What she was surprised about, however, was the countries response. Not one person stood to call out the man who was pushing them into a financial hell. There were no riots, no protests, but why? Her country had never been quiet before over such matters—why now?

When she saw Gabriel go through yet another speech on television, she knew why. They still believed in him. They believed it had to get 'worse to get better'. They didn't realize it wouldn't. The country didn't care he was destroying it because the country didn't _know_.

She told no one of her own, very dangerous plan as she started using her job as his assistant to her advantage. Getting full access to his emails was easy, no one questioned her when she went into his office during off hours. After hours of sifting through messages both personal and professional, she knew there was enough to confirm that things were only going to get worse. Secret rendezvous, bank conversations, covers. There was too much there to pretend as if everything would be okay.

"Scammer," she muttered to herself as she pulled out her flash drive and downloading as many emails as she could. Her country, her home, her very _life_ was in danger. She wouldn't simply let this go.

She needed to do anything she could to stop him. Something, anything to keep him from ruining her home. She knew simply getting the emails weren't enough, the public would never believe her and he could claim they were fake. He'd silence her, she'd be fired, and she'd be unable to do anything against him.

She closed out of his computer and put everything back where she found it, leaving a sticky note saying she just needed to confirm some appointments, knowing he wouldn't find that suspicious. He never had before.

She needed to go home, she needed to show Alya. She needed to figure out just what she could do, because she wasn't one to simply stand still.

She never had been.

* * *

When the first thing she did when she entered the small, two bedroom apartment was set a flash drive in Alya's hands, Marinette had to admit she seemed a bit strange. Alya looked at the flash drive, then at her for explanation, but Marinette just crossed her arms.

"So, what's this?" Alya voiced out loud, her voice concerned. Nevertheless, she followed her closest friend as she gestured towards the computer across the room.

"You'll see, it's easier for you to look than for me to explain." Marinette responded, ignoring the unsatisfied glare Alya sent her way.

"Fine , let's look at this bad boy then." she popped the flash drive in, sitting down at the computer chair. She drummed her nails against the desk, waiting for the drive to show up on the screen.

When it did, Marinette watched multiple expressions cross over her friend's face. First; confusion. But as her friends eyes gazed over the titles of each document, she knew she had peaked the girl's interest.

 _ **'gabriel agreste-email 1'**_

 _ **'gabriel agreste-email 2'**_

 _ **gabriel agreste-email-'**_

"Girl, is this.." she trailed off, glancing back towards her. Marinette nodded, leaning against the nearest wall while waiting for her friend to sift through the emails.

"It is, and you'll see just how right you were when you read them all. I should have listened to you, Alya."

Alya's bright eyes, shining with victory, dimmed as she saw Marinette's fallen expression. She reached for her friend's hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Granting her a small smile when their eyes met.

"Hey now, I'm not going to brag. I didn't want to be right, Mari. I know how much you believed in him. He should have been who he said he was." Alya paused, tilting her head curiously when she saw the same determination Marinette carried with her throughout her entire life.

"So, I'm guessing you didn't show me this for fun. What are we going to do?" she asked. Marinette shrugged at that, eyebrows furrowing as she tried to think.

"I didn't get to that part." Marinette admitted, and Alya snorted in amusement.

"Well, that won't do at all. I know how you are, if we don't do something you'll do it all by yourself and that's not a good idea when facing the leader of France." Alya crossed her legs, leaning back into the computer chair, and Marinette chuckled.

"Probably not, no." Marinette smiled as she said the words. Her gaze wandered around the room, trying to think of anything, when her eyes found her sketch pad. She walked over to it, half ideas burrowing into her head as she flipped through the pages. Page after page of designs for Gabriel Agreste's campaign stared back at her, and that's when she knew just what needed to do.

"I've got it." Marinette spoke, grinning widely as she pointed at the sketches. Alya stood and looked at the sketch book, before raising an eyebrow.

"Care to share?"

"Well," Marinette began, putting the sketch book down. "Remember last year, before _that man_ was elected. I did sanctioned street art to help with his campaign! It boosted votes and public approval by a ton, his campaign adviser told me it was one of the main reasons they offered me that job!"

Alya did remember. Marinette had begged for her help, and in the end Alya had caved—recording her best friend spray paint old walls throughout the city in record time. The girl had always carried a talent for art, so of course her designs would be noticed.

"Yeah, but don't get me wrong here. There's no way Gabriel Agreste is going to just let you besmirch his name with art." she watched a familiar glimmer appear in her friends eyes, and felt her hackles rise. Oh, oh no.

"Who said anyone was going to _let_ me do anything?" she asked. Alya shook her head, highly concerned.

"Mari— **no**! I'd be all for it but this is your life, your career on the line! You could go to jail, or even worse if he's as corrupt as those letters portray."

Marinette came close to her, grabbing her hands and grinning at her. It was too infectious for her to not smile back.

"You know I'll do it anyways, Alya. This is bigger than me, you know that."

She had a point. Once Marinette had something in her head, that was it. Stubborn to the end, it was why she'd be such an amazing politician. Alya's thoughts flew a million miles a minute, until finally she sighed.

"Fine. But you're not going out there alone-parkour experience or not." she added in when she saw Marinette beginning to disagree.

"We'll bring in people we trust. Nino is reliable, and kind of popular now with his music. He could make anti-government tracks, that's bound to get attention. I'll start a blog, anonymously of course. Max will probably have to be brought in so no one can get into my system." she trailed off, and Marinette took over.

"Alix and Kim are fast, like—really fast. They could go on runs with me. And I'm sure Rose and Juleka would join, too. They'll just be happy to help. None of them cared for Gabriel."

The two of them grinned at each other, separating only to send out messages for one big, private meeting for the next day. Once the messages were sent, they began to piece together a more solid plan.

"Let's bring down Gabriel Agreste!" Alya cheered.

* * *

 **A/N: That's the first chapter! This probably won't be a long series, it originally started as a one shot and got wayyyy out of hand and far too long for just one chapter so maybe around 6 chapters total. Tell me what you think, don't worry chat noir will show up soon. ;]**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you all for reading!**

* * *

 **Chapter Two: What's in a Name (and why these ones?)**

* * *

After the meeting, things moved along rather quickly. Within days they had a full group of people just ready to fight against France's number one power. Nino volunteered to do exactly as Alya expected. He'd jumped on the opportunity to make some anti-government tracks because, in his words _'that's so in, you don't understand!'._ He was also the first to volunteer to watch Marinette's back during her 'missions' playing as her backup, watch guard, whatever she needed.

Nathanaël, someone they didn't expect to even show up let alone join had been rather avid about the idea. He admitted he wouldn't be much good on the field, too jittery, too slow to respond—but he could make some amazing stencils. He went to crafting some directly after their first brainstorming session, shyly asking Marinette if she could use some of his ideas. Juleka and Rose had also volunteered, though Juleka had been hesitant. They didn't want to be close to the field if they didn't have to be, instead promising to watch online reactions to the art, stick to forums and news feeds. They had promised they would do their absolute best to distract anyone from knowing what they shouldn't.

Alix and Kim signed on with matching grins and far too much bravado. They were to be her main team on duty. They'd position themselves accordingly to where she would be, for quick escapes and back up for any situation in which Marinette would be compromised. Ivan and Mylène were far more hesitant to join, due to their recent marriage. Mylène claimed they had too much at stake to risk it all, but Ivan did promise he would be there if she needed backup as she was the one who brought the two of them together.

Someone—probably Rose, was far too kind for their own good and told Chloé Burgeois about their secret meeting. The girl had shown up, listened for a few minutes, and then left without a word. They had been tense, waiting for the end of everything they had hoped for. After all, Chloé wasn't exactly known for her kindness, what did she have to gain out of helping them?

But then a case of updated earpieces and some majorly high tech equipment appeared on their doorstep. The note attached was the only thing that gave away the sender.

 _'I can't believe you're doing this, and I refuse to ruin my reputation over it. But, he's bad for business, take him down._

 _-C.B'_

Marinette had struggled with words after she had seen it all. She couldn't thank the girl, didn't know how or even if she would accept it— _she wouldn't_. Maybe, at a later date she'd have to reevaluate the girl she had always been at odds with throughout school.

 **Maybe.**

After a month of very careful planning, gathering data, and practicing runs; Marinette knew she was ready for her first go. There were some older signs in the train stations, connecting to the most important parts of the city that had Gabriel's face plastered to them. Her goal was to reach the first train station, hit the sign with her design all within the time it would take for the train to go from one station to hers. Then, she'd board the train all without being seen, get to the next station with his smug, lying face on it and hit that one as well. _All without being seen_.

Needless to say, she was nervous about her first run. Something Nino had noticed immediately.

"Come on Mari, we've done this a million times." he said, zipping up the bag that held all of her spray paint and equipment for the night. He had came over hours beforehand, claiming he needed to do something. Rose and Juleka were setting up the computers, getting the group call ready so everyone would be in touch.

"It's alright to be a little nervous, just don't forget you've got us." Alya called from her own computer, looking back briefly from the screen to glance at her. She had been editing her 'Anti-Gabriel' blog for hours, but she was still itching to fix more.

"For some reason that makes me more nervous," Marinette replied, zipping up the black hoodie she had bought two days before at a thrift shop. No way to trace her at all if things ever went bad.

"Hey, you'll figure it out, I know you will. Alix and Kim are almost at location, they'll make sure to not send you in at the wrong time."

"I know," Marinette answered immediately. She pulled on the finger-less leather gloves she knew would help in the end, and reached for the black bandanna she had bought, only to pull out a red and black spotted one in its place.

"Alya," she hissed, knowing immediately who the culprit was. She searched for the black bandanna, somehow knowing it was going to stay missing. Knowing why her friend was so irritated, Alya giggled.

"What's wrong, Marinette? I thought you needed a uh, _special touch._ A signature look, if you will."

"That's the exact opposite of what I should have." she groaned, but Alya held up a finger and shook it in time with a _'tsk'_.

"If this gets as big as we hope, you're going to need something to identify yourself with to the public. A tag. I know how this goes." She stood from her spot at the computer and pointed to the bandanna.

"Besides, it's ladybug colored. They're good luck, you know."

"It's not a ladybug," Marinette replied flatly, only getting a shrug in response. "Ugh."

She tied the ladybug-she would _not_ be calling it that- bandanna around her neck and hid it beneath her hoodie. She took the offered ear piece right as Nino held it out, and mentally checked herself over one more time.

Hoodie. **Check**.

Hair out of face. **Check.**

Gloves. **Check.**

Spray Paint. **Check.**

 _Horrid bandanna that's bound to get me caught_. **Check.**

The clock had just hit 1 am as Alix spoke into the earpiece.

"All set for round one,"

"I'm out, then." Marinette said, hoisting her bag over her shoulders and heading towards the window closest to the fire escape. She waved quickly behind to the crew she was leaving, and climbed her way onto the stairs. She knew she needed to be careful about her identity, even when it came to simply leaving her own building, just in case anyone ever noticed her.

The minute she touched ground into the alley by her house, Alya's voice came onto the line.

 _"Ladybug has left the garden, I repeat Ladybug has left the garden. Do you read?"_

"Alya," Marinette whispered angrily, face bleeding red as she sneaked from one alley to another.

 _"Uh-uh, that's Lady Wi-Fi to you. We've all got code names you know, can't have anyone knowing the truth."_

oh, her voice was just so smug.

 _"That's right. Also—read you Wi-Fi. Dark Cupid and I are in position, both stations still clear and ready to be sprayed."_

Dark Cupid? Were they serious?

"This isn't a game, guys." she whispered as she glanced around the street. The train station was below her, just waiting, right there. But she had to be sure. Once she was clear, she began her trek down. She hadn't seen Alix before she went in—but then again she wasn't supposed to.

 _"Never said it was LB."_ came Alix's voice once again, amusement in her tone. She tried to ignore how obvious it was that they had planned this without her.

She looked around the empty station, mentally thanking her friends for supporting her in this. They couldn't have picked a better night, or a better time. Just as she had reached the bottom step, the train was leaving the station. It was only her and her canvas for a while.

She stood before the sign, her target for the night. She looked over the white background, the face of her boss and her original idol staring back at her. She had always thought his gaze was intense, now she wondered if his gaze was just—empty. Like his promises.

She wasn't bitter,not at all.

"I'm sorry it had to come to this." she whispered, sliding her bag off of her shoulders.

"How long do I have?" she asked, shaking her first can of paint. She could hear the slight clacking of a keyboard, and then came Rose's light voice.

 _"20 minutes until the next train."_

"Thanks, Rose."

 _"That's Princess Fragrance, Ladybug."_ came her shy reply. Marinette rolled her eyes at that. Even Rose was in on it! Where did these names come from? She pushed those thoughts to the side and pulled up the bandanna over her nose and set off to work.

She didn't take long with her project, as this was to be mostly a test run. She painted the background to dismal, desolate colors. She brought up a stencil of a broken record Nathanaël had crafted and painted it just by the man's smile, then painted a speech bubble to connect the two pieces. Alya had thought it was clever, Marinette thought it was a bit too much. She left his clothing the same, just to show how staunchly different his appearance was to the reality, painting everything around him quickly and efficiently.

Last, but not least, she brought out another stencil that, in all block letters, spelled out _'Liar'_.

Simple, to the point. And bound to get attention. All they wanted from this first run.

 _"You have three minutes, Ladybug."_ came Rose's voice, bringing her out of her painting daze. She stood back, looking over her artwork, and felt something was off. Her hand twitched to do something more,to make her mark, but she resisted. This wasn't some project for fun, it was serious. Resistance lasted briefly thirty seconds and then she was opening her bag again.

"Screw it," she knew she would regret doing it even as she brought out the red spray paint, shaking the can far more violently than necessary. On the left hand side of the project, right over top of his name, she wrote out a large, cursive **LB**.

"I can't believe myself," she muttered, and shoved the can of paint into her bag. She pulled the bandanna down and slung on her bag, and turned away from the art. When the train arrived, she looked just like any other late night traveler, nothing to suspect at all.

* * *

 **A/N: So I started this story to be a three shot, long chapters with very little bulk to them..but this story has kind of taken ahold of me and now this plotline is way larger than it started. So now the chapters are shorter with more plot involved, so I'm not sure how long it will be now?**

 **For those of you wondering YES Adrien is a main character and will be showing up next chapter! As for the rest, you'll see~ Let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: Interference**

* * *

The first night of painting went off without a hitch, and so did the second, the third, and so on. For two months her team fought against Gabriel the only way they could. Traction was starting to pick up within the online community, pictures of her art were spreading, bloggers began talking of their efforts. It wasn't enough, not yet, but it was a beginning. People were barely beginning to question, but they needed something to make them act. Something more, something _bigger._

Marinette contemplated just what that special something could be at work, specifically her lunch break. She scrolled down her phone, looking for anything that could be used for a good 'art project', only to come up short. The locations were too out of the way, or too small, or just not in a high traffic area. They needed something that would bring in more than just bloggers, more than just a few conspiracy followers.

"Marinette, right?" came a voice behind her. She practically jumped out of her seat at the sound, her heart racing.

When she turned her head, hand over her heart as if that would stop it from beating out of her chest, she saw none other than Adrien Agreste. He held a brown bag, probably his lunch, and was giving her an almost nervous smile.

"Yes, that's me." she replied hesitantly. What did Adrien need from her? They had never spoken before, not in the entire time she had worked there. It wasn't as though she had avoided him or anything, they just never had a professional reason to speak to one another.

"What do you need?" she asked, gesturing for him to sit across from her. He smiled thankfully at the notion, and she felt that good old heart of hers skip a beat. Even if she was hell bent on taking his father down, that didn't distract her from just how attractive the boy was. She had been told he modeled for a time in high school, and she could believe it. He still had the look of a model.

"Well, to be honest. I just wanted to talk," he answered, laughing a bit at her confused expression. "I realized recently that I see you almost every day and I don't think we've ever really spoken."

"A lot of people work in this office, it's not that shocking," she spoke, and he raised an eyebrow at her. Somehow that eyebrow was all he needed to show his disbelief.

"We're usually in the same room at least twice a day, we're two college students surrounded by old men." he explained flatly.

It was her turn to laugh, and she rose her hands in surrender.

"Okay, okay, I see your point." she gave in, but continued. "It's not like we can't talk now though."

He gave such a bright smile in response to that, that she was momentarily dazzled. She needed to calm herself down, she wasn't one to fall all over herself due to a pretty face. Maybe in middle school, when she would've definitely stumbled and stuttered because- _oh, he was a perfect example of a man_ \- but not now.

"You're right, we can." he interrupted her thoughts. "Though to be honest, it's probably my fault we never have in the first place." he added.

"Why do you say that?" she found herself asking automatically.

She watched as his cheeks bled to a light red, and he rubbed the back of his head in what had to be a nervous reflex.

"I followed your efforts to help my father, back during the campaign. I was a little nervous to talk to you because of it. You were amazing, you know." he met her eyes, continuing. "Especially the art project you did."

She felt her blood run cold, her body tense. Was that a call out? Did he know what she was doing? Was she over-reacting— _oh_ she was definitely over-reacting, right? He was just talking about her wall project. He _couldn't_ know, there was _no way_ he could know.

She needed to get herself together.

"O-oh, thank you. That was one of my favorites, also." she cursed her own stutter, _stop making yourself look guilty._

 _Change the subject, do something._

"So you go to school for the same thing as me, right?" _Yes, perfect._ School was a safe topic.

And apparently a disappointing one, because his smile fell.

Just as he had been preparing to answer, a text interrupted them. Both of them looked at the other, realizing it wasn't one text tone but two, before they looked at their phones.

 _ **'Marketing meeting, ten minutes.'**_

"Marketing?' she spoke out loud, confused. There had been no plans for a marketing meeting today, what exactly was going on? She stood as Adrien did, he looked just as confused as she was.

"I don't know, this is the first I've heard of it, too." he said, the two of them walking together.

"Well, let's go see then."

An hour later, Marinette and Adrien shared a concerned look, the sound of applause surrounding them. Gabriel Agreste stood at the front of the council, a picture of a billboard at his back. A brand new, recently erected billboard with his face _all over it_. Neither one of them had known anything about the billboard, it hadn't been in any prior meetings or spoken of in any emails.

The meeting dispersed and Marinette found herself practically running away, Adrien's attempt at signaling her over going unnoticed.

If Gabriel had done this without even _her_ , his personal assistant helping, then it was likely he doing much worse without her knowledge.

She needed to act, soon. And she knew exactly what her next project should be.

* * *

"No, Mari. I'm not risking you like that." Alya argued, uploading pictures of their last project to her blog. It had been a free drawn portrait, Gabriel Agreste, dramatized, was stuffing money into his pocket. A good piece, even she was surprised by how well it had turned out in the time span she had dealt with.

"But why, I-"

"You know exactly why." Alya turned to her, blog updated. Now Marinette could finally see the upset on her face. "It's a billboard, it's an uncontrollable piece. We can't stop cars from passing by, no matter how late at night it is. If someone _sees you,_ _calls on you_ —that's it. We're done. We would have no way of knowing until his men were already there."

She could see the panic glimmering in her friend's eyes at even the thought of such an event occurring. But she could also see the way Alya was struggling, because she knew the idea was just what they needed. Personal feelings versus professional, always a difficult thing to balance.

"Nino's track won't be out til next month, and that billboard is right there, Alya. Gabriel is overconfident, he's yet to even mention our efforts to me or Adrien—his own son." she conveniently left out the part that she knew that because said son was having lunch with her almost daily now. Best not to get into that.

"He's not taking us seriously, he doesn't-"

"It doesn't matter if he takes us seriously or not, it's a major risk for us." Alya interrupted.

"I'm willing to take it," she replied without even a bit of hesitation.

Silence fell over them, the two staring, waiting for the other to crack. It was only a moment before Alya sighed, leaning back in her chair.

"How long are you going to argue with me about this?" she asked, and Marinette knew she had her victory.

"How long til you give in?" Marinette responded, crossing her arms and giving a bright smile in return.

Alya closed her eyes, taking in a deep, long breath, before releasing.

"Fine, but we're doing this the right way." Alya's tone was serious, far more serious than Marinette had ever heard before. "Nino and Ivan are going to be added to your get away party, and Max is going with you to get rid of any lights so you aren't seen."

"I understand," Marinette said, taking the added crew with stride. It was a sensible thing to do given the situation.

"We're going to practice this as many times as we can, I'm not having you get caught because of this," Alya continued, before turning back to her computer. Marinette watched as she pulled up their group call, the sounds of her typing drowning out the silence between them.

"Also—invest in some climbing gear. I won't have you falling off that thing, how would I explain that to your parents?"

The mix of teasing and serious concern touched Marinette's heart, and she found herself walking forward to wrap her friends shoulders in a hug. Kissing her friends cheek dramatically.

"Anything you say, _Lady Wi-Fi._ " Marinette scattered back as Alya came after her, laughter pouring out of her.

* * *

Two weeks of planning, two weeks of rope tying, designing, and _so much_ practicing. Marinette was exhausted if she was being honest. School was reaching finals season, so when she wasn't studying for the billboard, she was studying for a test. She couldn't remember the last time she had gotten more than four hours of sleep.

Not that she would complain about it out loud, that's all the ammunition Alya would need to cancel the project. And she had only recently cleared them for the event.

It was a Sunday night, and everyone was ready. Alix, Kim, Ivan and Nino were headed to their respective positions. Rose was keeping them updated on everything she could. Traffic reports, weather, the time; anything she thought would be helpful for the project. Meanwhile, Marinette was waiting for Juleka to find a good spot to turn off of the road. She pulled on her new jacket, specifically a red and black jacket made of leather. It had been a gift from Alya, another 'Ladybug' inspired piece. She tugged on her gloves and had just tied back her hair when Juleka finally managed to find the drop off spot. She turned her head to face Marinette, giving her a small smile.

"You have to walk from here, Ladybug," she spoke. Marinette tied her signature bandanna around her face just before stepping out of the car. There would be no risking her identity tonight.

"Thanks for the ride, I'll see you soon." Marinette grabbed her bag and shut the door as quietly as she could, the sounds of her friends chiming in her ear.

 _"Bubbler in position, all clear."_

 _"Timebreaker in position, all clear."_

 _"Dark Cupid in position, all clear."_

 _"Stone Heart in position, all clear."_

 _"Gamer on Route,"_ she heard Max say, the sounds of nervous breathing making it's way over the earpiece.

"Ladybug on Route," she said, adjusting her bag as she began to walk. "Everything is going to be fine, Gamer. Stick the plan and you'll be home in no time."

Max had been dropped off in a different area from her, one much closer to their target. His job was to turn off the lights, and get out of there before Marinette came onto the scene. Technically, they could have gone together, but Alya didn't want to risk losing both their main artist and their tech expert all at once. She would wait til he was finished, and then she would make her own appearance.

She crept through the brush leading to the billboard, close enough to see it, but not close enough to be seen herself. She fiddled with her bag as she waited for Max's update, ready to get her night started.

Finally, after a moment, she heard Max's victorious laugh.

 _"Making the magic happen, LB."_ his voice came through, and only a moment later the lights of the billboard were out.

"You're the best," she spoke, knowing the compliment would help to assuage the nervous breathing she could still hear through the earpiece. She walked towards her project, just barely able to make out Max's retreating form in the distance.

 _"Don't I know it,"_ he responded, and she pretended she couldn't hear the slight stutter there. _"On my way to you, Bubbler."_

 _"Got you, Gamer."_

"Be safe," Marinette cautioned. He had disappeared into the woods surrounding the area, and she put her focus onto the billboard. It was time for her to do her own job, there had to be a ladder here, maybe if she circled around it? She turned to the other side of the pole and found exactly what she was looking for, only around three feet up. If she jumped, she'd be able to reach it. Nothing too difficult.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Ladybug." came a deep, unfamiliar voice. She stiffened and turned around, meeting the gaze of her intruder.

The man was dressed in all black, a leather jacket over his form and a black bandanna tied around his face. This was no one she knew, and couldn't possibly be a friend. She was _caught_ , Alya was _right_ and she was going to be in so much trouble!

She reached slowly, so slowly for the mace she knew was just inside her pants pocket. She tried to ignore the sounds of her panicking friends in her ear, backup plans being called and them commanding her to run. Something told her running wasn't going to work, he was much taller than her, and more than in shape enough to catch her. She'd need an edge.

"And why not?" she asked, faking a confidence she didn't have. As if she wasn't staring doom in the face.

The man crossed his arms, taking a step forward. Reflexively, she took one back. She could feel the cold metal of the pole against her back, and wondered if maybe she should have risked running. He looked far too at ease for her.

"Because, my lady. This," he began, pointing up at the sign. "Is a trap."

She felt trapped alright, but _not_ by the billboard.

"Oh?" she asked, eyes looking over him. She needed to calm down, focus. She needed to look for an opportunity, _any_ opportunity to get out of there. She needed to find a weak spot, or a distraction- _anything._

She wondered how much backup he had in the woods, and wondered if running even had a purpose.

"You look tense, you should really calm down." he said, laughing. "I'm not on his side."

 _Oh, that was rich._ Marinette snorted, unable to stop her disbelief from shining through.

"Yeah, sure. I can believe that. How much are you getting to take me down?" she asked bitterly, knowing immediately she had messed up. _Why couldn't she keep her mouth shut!_

The man shrugged, releasing a sigh.

"You don't have to believe me, but I'm not lying to you, and I'm not wrong about this, either." he gestured to the billboard again. "I know for a fact that Agreste is just waiting for you to go up there, it's exactly what he wants."

He sounded sincere, but it wouldn't be the first time someone had lied to her while seeming honest. Part of her wanted to listen to him, but another, more logical part of her told her to run.

Or maybe that was just Alya's voice ringing in her ears.

"Prove it," Marinette returned, pulling out the mace from her pocket. "If you're lying you can meet my good friend here, right before I run away."

She saw his eyebrow quirk, and ignored the rush of familiarity. For one tense moment, neither of them said a word, and then he laughed.

"I'd rather keep my face intact, thanks. It's the only thing I've got." he gestured to his own bag, one that she hadn't noticed before. "I need to get the proof from out of here. Just letting you know before you decide to attack me."

"Just don't be too quick, and I won't do a thing." she warned.

He took her advice to heart, and slowly, _oh so very slowly_ ,dug through his bag. He found what he wanted and pulled it out, revealing a small, broken video camera.

"Here's my proof." he said, sounding just a bit too smug. He came closer to her, his free hand in the air. Ever aware of the mace just ready to be used against him. When he was close enough, he held the object out to her, and with a very nervous hand; she took it.

She looked over the broken camera, eyes widening as she noted the brand. Proof or not this was some very expensive equipment. She looked back at the man, waiting for further explanation.

"I got that from right there," he pointed up, right to the top of the ladder. "They're up there, tons of them. They're not powered from the same source as the lights." he explained.

"You're sure?" she asked, and he nodded.

"He wanted you to climb up there, catch you during the act, and take you down. I wouldn't be surprised if he has people on standby just waiting for the go signal."

It made sense, too much sense. Suddenly the meeting didn't seem so random, he was announcing his trap to the world! The meeting had been televised _live_ , something he barely did. He wanted her to see it. _He wanted ladybug to see it._

And he had almost trapped her without her even expecting! She cursed herself for falling for such an easy trap, and then another thought entered her mind. How did this man know about the cameras, when even she didn't?

"How did you know these were up there?" she asked, anger coursing through her tone. He couldn't be anyone but one of his men! She waited for him to attack, mace raised in defense. She really needed to invest in a real weapon.

But he just rose his hands once more, trying to signal peace.

"Let's just say I work closely with the guy, not by choice." she could hear the irritation in his tone, "I don't approve of what he's doing."

"I see," she responded, another thought striking her, "Why tonight? How did you know I was going to be here?"

He laughed again.

"I didn't. I've been here every night for the past week. I'm exhausted, to be honest." he admitted,a flare of drama in his tone. She was glad he couldn't see her involuntary smile.

Silence fell over them once again, and she shifted nervously, lowering her hand.

"Well," she paused, "Thanks, I guess?"

Her friends had barely calmed down over the ear piece, Nino claimed he was close enough and that he would tackle the man if she needed him to. Alya was telling her not to trust him, to get out. She decided it was finally time to respond.

"Wi-Fi, calm down. I'm safe, I doubt he'd even explain anything if he wanted to capture me. Let's scrap this project for now, settle on the back up plan instead."

She turned her eyes away from the man's interested gaze, and focused on her friends.

 _"Are you sure, LB?"_ Alya's voice was concerned, and a bit scratchy. She wondered how much damage control she was going to have to do when she got home, it wasn't often that Alya cried. Nino was going to be _mad_ , he hated it when she cried.

"I'm fine. Timebreaker, you there?" she leaned back against the pole and ignored the man when he came to stand beside her. Her hand was still wrapped around her mace, but she didn't move to raise it.

 _"Sure am, LB."_

"I'm going with you, tonight. Let's pack this up,"

 _"Got it,"_ she heard her friend's voices echo.

"I figured you'd have a team, but it's different seeing it in action. No wonder he's so worked up over you." the man spoke, amused.

"I don't see how that's any of your business." she replied, standing from her spot and putting her attention on him. "Look, I appreciate your help, but I really can't stick around anymore."

She glanced at the pole again, and an idea struck. She pulled off her bag, reaching for her favorite stencil. She pulled it out, and brought out her bright red spray paint. She gestured for the man to move as she shook the can.

"But I—what are you doing?" he asked as he was pushed out of the way.

He watched as she put the stencil to the pole, finding a good position before spraying.

"Leaving a message. I don't want him to think he's _won._ " she responded coldly. When she pulled the stencil off, a bright red ladybug symbol stood in it's place. She shook the stencil, waiting for the paint to dry so she could place it back in her bag. If she treated the stencil right, it would last for another three to four sessions, she hated wasting them.

When she turned to face him again, he was holding her bag out.

"I want to help you." he said.

"No," was her instant reply.

"Why not?" he questioned, his voice almost whining. She resisted the urge to laugh at his childlike tone. "I saved you tonight, I can-"

"I really do appreciate that, that you helped tonight but-" she had cut him off only be cut off herself.

"I can get you information on _everything_ you need. Traps, locations, weak spots. I can't stand this, I can't just wait around anymore. I need to _do_ something." he reached in his bag and pulled out a phone. From how low tech it looked, she knew it had to be disposable. He reached out to give the phone to her, pulling out another one to show a matching set.

"Please take it. Trust me, just a bit. I can't paint that well but I can help you. I've been trained in martial arts for years, I'm certainly better at protecting you than a can of mace. Besides, I'm tall, it'll help in-"

"Why do you want this so badly?" she asked, interrupting his rambling.

He stopped twitching, his expression losing the almost panicked look as the air became serious. He stepped forward just enough to put the phone in her hand, his own gloved hands wrapping her fingers around it. Holding it there.

"You stood up to him. I saw what was going on and I wanted to do something but I couldn't." he paused, seeming to gather his thoughts. "I want to do this, I want to do what's right."

Green eyes met blue and she was shaken by the sincerity there. They didn't speak, taken in by the moment. She tried to think of something, anything to say, and when his thumb brushed over her hand, she felt as though she'd been shocked. She pulled her hand out of his grasp, taking the phone with her.

She made a decision there. Not to trust him, but to give him the _opportunity_ to be trusted.

"What should I call you?" she asked, not noticing just how quiet her voice had gone. The edges of the man's eyes crinkled, as if he was smiling so wide it reached his entire face. For a moment, she wished she could truly see it.

"Call me Chat Noir, Ladybug. Your faithful bodyguard," he bowed dramatically, and she couldn't hold back a laugh. She ignored the sound of Alix asking when she was going to show, and asked another question.

"Why Chat Noir?"

He shrugged at that.

"Ladybugs are good luck, right? I'll be the bad luck, that way you don't get any."

"That's absolutely ridiculous." she giggled, "But I like it."

He seemed to perk up at that, a confidence in his voice that wasn't there before.

"Well, my lady. I won't keep you up any longer." he reached for her hand, and she gave it curiously. He leaned down to place a kiss there, or at least it would've been a kiss if the bandanna wasn't in the way. Then he looked up and gave her a wink.

"I _spray_ we meet again, soon."

He turned away before she could hit him, running off into the night, the black of his outfit helping him disappear far quicker than she expected. She clutched the phone to her chest, hoping that this time her intuition didn't fail her.

"Alya's going to kill me."

* * *

 **A/N: So what did you think of the introductions? I'm having a lot of fun writing this, it's very different than my usual stuff! Things are going to be picking up a lot more now that chat noir is in the picture, and of course, now the romance begins. ;] the love square isn't as intense in this, sorry to say, but there are hints of it! Tell me what you think**!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: Close Calls**

* * *

After a very stern talking to by Alya, and quite a few concerned looks from her friends; Marinette had finally been able to discuss with them about what to do now that they were back at square one. They had almost been caught—had underestimated their target and overestimated themselves. They knew the game they were playing would be dangerous when they began, but they hadn't even expected Gabriel's first play.

 _"I don't trust you alone with him,"_ Alya grumbled over the phone the next day. _"What if he's a—a double agent!"_

Marinette scoffed at that, shifting her phone so she could open her yogurt. Alya had called the minute her lunch period had started, and hadn't stopped yelling about Chat Noir since.

"That's why we test him, Alya. I'm not walking into this blindly, but-" she heard footsteps behind her and stopped mid sentence, freezing. She turned her head slightly, eyes meeting Adrien's form, and that was all she needed to relax. She waved once, mouthing a _'sorry'_ and gesturing to her phone. He gave a small smile and came to sit across from her, opening up his own lunch. She gave him an apologetic look before turning her attention back to her phone.

 _"I don't know, girl. I trust you but-"_

"It's fine, Alya." she interrupted, catching her before she could begin another ' _I-don't-trust-chat-noir_ ' ramble. "We'll talk later, okay? I've got company."

Suddenly her friend's tone changed.

 _"Ooh, is it Adrien again? He's pretty hot-"_

"Goodbye, Alya." Marinette hung up, her face feeling just a tad bit warmer than only moments ago. She looked over to Adrien and gave a bright smile.

"So sorry about that, Adrien. Roommate struggles, they never end." she explained briefly, and Adrien laughed.

"If I had to apologize for every time I've had to answer a call during our lunches, I'd be saying 'sorry' till next week." he joked, grinning. "Trust me, you're fine."

Lunch with Adrien had become so commonplace in the past month that she was actually more surprised when he didn't show. It had been slightly difficult for her to be in his company so often in the beginning. He was simply _too_ attractive, and it really didn't help that his personality complimented him perfectly. If she didn't know any better, she'd call him a perfect man. It was almost a little unnerving.

If she was younger, she would've practically stumbled over herself trying to get his attention—and likely making a fool out of herself instead. Hell, maybe she would've made a try for him _now_ if not for the ever so small detail that she was _tearing down his father's reputation_ one step at a time.

Not exactly good for a romantic mood, destroying your interest's parent's career.

"So, what do you think?" he asked, breaking her from her thoughts.

 _He had been talking, stupid Marinette!_ She scolded herself.

"I'm sorry Adrien, I was worlds away, can you repeat that?" she asked, a guilty look on her face.

"Should have known you weren't paying attention to me," he joked, coming to sit beside her rather than across from her. He shoved his shoulder against hers playfully, meeting her eyes. "I'm just so _boring._ "

He was in her space, legs touching, arms grazing, definitely in her space. He could be such a flirt when given the opportunity arose!

She **liked** it.

"Well, nobody's perfect." she joked, pushing back against him. Flirting back. She'd hit herself later for breaking her own rules.

"Ouch, Marinette. Ouch." before she could respond; he brought up his phone,angling it so she could see.

"This is what I was talking about." he gestured, and she found herself looking at a picture of- _her art._

"My dad's going crazy over this. That's why we had that super weird meeting a few weeks ago."

He brought his head closer to hers, foreheads inches from brushing. He lowered his voice to a dramatic whisper.

"Apparently, he put cameras all over that billboard just so he could catch them in the act, but." he slid his finger over the phone, bringing up another image of her art. This time of the ladybug she, herself, had painted just last night.

"They didn't take the bait."

He pulled back from her, an almost giggle rising from his throat. She'd never asked about his personal life with his father, but the fact that he was amused by her sabotage made her wonder just how he actually felt about the man. She'd ask, but she didn't want to seem too suspicious. Did he approve of what she was doing? Or would he stand against her?

"Really," Marinette spoke, making sure to keep her tone neutral. Internally, she was reeling. _Chat Noir was telling the truth, this is undeniable proof!_

"He's that worried over some random street artist?" she asked, and Adrien scoffed.

"Of course. He hates bad press," the reply was instant, "Besides, look at this. You have to admit this took some talent."

He scrolled down to another photo, and she realized all at once that he was using _Alya's_ blog. Adrien Agreste was on her friend's- _their_ -blog. She forced herself to stay calm, nothing to worry about. Nothing to panic over.

He pulled up a photo of one of her more risky art pieces. It was her longest project, spanning nearly five hours. The project itself was simple, facts painted across the concrete foundation. But the facts themselves were surrounded by painted 'cracks' giving the illusion of the bridge crumbling. She'd been proud of it when she saw the finished project, and even now, weeks later, she was still just as pleased.

It was a good piece.

 _'Act like you haven't seen it.'_

"I mean, sure that's pretty cool, but I don't know." she began, her voice hesitant. He looked from the photo to her, waiting for her to continue. "I just. I feel sorry for anyone who goes up against your dad, is all." she explained; fighting back the smile attempting to emerge on her traitorous face.

Adrien didn't have a thing to resist though, no hidden identity to worry about. He gave her a large smile, nodding at her words.

"Me too, but they're definitely brave. Smart too, since they haven't been caught." he trailed off, before his smile turned sly.

"Hey, you did street art right? For the campaign and all that."

She had to force herself not to tense. She wasn't mentally making plans to leave the country, calculating how long it would take to get to the airport from work, how much money and luggage she would need. No, she wasn't that quick to panic, **not at all.** It was just a question.

"Y-yeah, of course." she really needed to learn how to control that nervous stutter.

"You wouldn't happen to know this 'Ladybug', would you?" and suddenly he was back in her space. Normally, this would be when she panicked, but the look on his face was too exaggerated to be serious.

 _'Oh, I know her.'_ she thought, _'I know her intimately.'_

"It's not like people who do that just hang out, Adrien. There's no 'club'." she joked,"Besides, if there was I'd doubt they'd hang out with me."

He laughed, pulling himself away from her, the warmth of his leg against hers gone.

"I guess you're right, considering who you work for." he paused, looking down at his phone once more. "I'd really like to applaud whoever they are, though. Anyone who can get him that mad gets a win in my book. Not even I can manage that."

His expression was almost soft as he looked at the zoomed in ladybug symbol. She wondered why that was, exactly, and why she couldn't control her ridiculous heart when it came to talking to him.

 _'Focus on saving your country, Marinette No time for cute boys.'_

* * *

"Where did you put the phone that Chat gave me?" Marinette called out, digging through her computer desk. She could have sworn she'd placed it there last night, the only reason it would be missing would be if Alya had moved it.

"Mari, I-" Alya started, and Marinette groaned. She knew where this was going. She stopped her search and turned to face her friend.

"Adrien told me his father did put those cameras on the last project. Chat wasn't lying. Agreste has been freaking out over us for weeks now," she explained, smiling widely. "Apparently we're 'bad press'."

Alya's defensive form loosened at that, a matching grin curving onto her face.

"Oh, well now. _That's_ news."

Hesitantly, she reached into her pocket, digging out the phone Marinette should have known she'd have. She handed said phone over without a fuss, but the dangerous light she recognized so well was back in her eyes, and Alya rose her pointer finger.

"He gets one chance, Mari. One." she spoke in a no-nonsense tone. The doorbell rang, and she moved to answer it. "If he shows even the slightest sign of betrayal I'll come down there myself and break his legs."

Marinette believed it.

Alya opened the door, making way for Nino as he walked in. He had gotten into the habit of appearing before the rest of their group, always taking that extra time to set up and go over the plan once more. Based on the look of displeasure that passed over his face, Marinette could tell he knew what they were talking about.

"So you're taking that guy out tonight, then? I thought we decided not to-"

"He wasn't lying." Alya explained before Marinette could. "Marinette wants to give him a chance."

Nino's frown thinned, a familiar gleam of concern in his eyes. Out of all of her friends, Nino and Alya were the most hesitant to risk her in any way. They had always been the closest to her, so it was only natural. Especially as they weren't on the field with her, Nino only covered for bigger jobs and Alya hadn't once been on the scene.

But still, she wished they would trust her opinion a bit.

"If he helps, Kim can do his job and poor Rose doesn't have to be out there. You know how much she hates being a runner." Marinette explained. Logic always helped her get her way, and it couldn't be argued against.

"Ivan could-" Nino started, trying to object, but Marinette stopped him.

"Ivan sprained his ankle trying to reach me at the billboard, I'm not risking that." she said, knowing the words that were going to come out of his mouth next. "And no, sorry, but you're not going with me. You have a panic reaction when I'm in danger, we're more likely to get caught if you're my backup."

"Mari-" Alya said, and she knew she had been a bit too harsh with her tone. She sent Nino an apologetic look but spoke again.

"We're going to try Chat Noir out. This is my call, you said so yourself. Remember?"

Nino looked like he was still ready to argue, but Alya halted him, a hand on his arm. She shook her head when he glanced down at her, and he sighed.

"Come on Nino, let's go look at the blog. Besides, we need to get everything set up for tonight."

Marinette clenched the phone, a sinking feeling in her chest. She knew her friends were only concerned for her, knew they'd be a wreck if she got hurt. But still, she would be _fine_. Even if he wasn't on their side, she would be fine. She was fast, and if she really needed to she'd just spray paint his face; better than a can of mace any day.

She walked into her bedroom, closing the door behind her just in case Alya decided she no longer wanted to be civil. She didn't need anyone yelling at him before she'd even had a chance to speak. She turned on the phone, pulling up the singular number saved into it, and hit **'Call'**. She hoped he was up for a late night run, that he was worth all this discourse.

* * *

Across the city, Adrien Agreste started at the sound of a phone ringing. Realizing that was not his normal ringtone, he scrambled from his spot at his desk. His cat, Plagg, was none too happy at being shoved off of his lap, giving him his signature 'angry' look. Adrien threw an apology over his shoulder as he ran to his desk, picking up the phone and staring at the number on the screen.

There was only one person it could be.

"Be Chat Noir," he told himself, trying to calm his racing heart.

He flipped the phone open.

"Ladybug," he greeted, forcing his voice into a deeper pitch. "I'm surprised to hear from you so soon,"

 _What a great way to say hello,_ he thought to himself. _I'm amazing._

 _"Yeah, well turns out someone else backed you up,"_ she answered, and he found himself smiling, leaning against his bed.

"Yeah?" he said.

He had his suspicions on just _who_ may be behind that ladybug bandanna, a hunch that he needed to follow. He didn't want to simply assume though, especially as he'd only met the woman once. But still, it would be nice if he was right.

Besides, how many people other than himself could _'back him up'_?

 _"So, you up for some heavy lifting tonight, kitten?"_

If his smile was bright before, it was shining now. A nickname, just for him?

Even if he didn't have time, he'd make it. He thought of all those nights waiting by that wretched billboard, staying up far too late. He knew logically that he needed a full day of rest, one unhindered by work or school, but when he'd had a chance to skip his work with his father he'd said no. The idea of leaving Marinette to face his father alone simply didn't sit right with him, he couldn't abandon her like that.

He'd just have to work with it, find some time to sleep later. Maybe much later.

"Anything for you, Ladybug." he felt his bed shift, and put his hand up just in time for Plagg to start nuzzling against him. He absentmindedly began to pet the cat, the sound of purrs filling the air.

 _"Good. Midnight then,_ " he heard the sound of a door opening on her side, voices becoming louder in the background. _"I'll send you the coordinates, Chat. Gotta go."_

"Purrfect, my lady." he drawled.

" _Ugh._ "

She hung up.

He held the phone close as and laughed, a happy feeling in his chest. She had decided to trust him, to invite him! He'd have a chance to prove himself, and he would. He would do anything he could to help her. Anything to stop his father.

The ping of a text message drew his attention and he grinned.

* * *

That night, at exactly midnight, he was waiting. Once he had reached location it became obvious just what Ladybug's target was. A large, white space on the side of a building where advertising normally sat. it was in a good location, he passed by this building almost daily on his way to work.

To see Ladybug's art everyday would be amazing. And if he saw it, that meant his father would be able to as well. She had to have known that, had to have known the risk she was taking coming this close to where he was.

Not even two minutes after his arrival, footsteps sounded behind him. Normally, he prided himself on his ability to remain calm, years of training from his father and his mentors had taught him such. However when the footsteps increased, indicating there was not one but three people, he had to forcibly resist the urge to panic. Was this Ladybug, or someone else? Was he going to need to fight for his life tonight?

There was only one way to find out.

He turned around slowly, allowing himself to control his reaction. He calmed down only a fraction when he met a familiar gaze.

It was Ladybug, but she wasn't alone. On each side of her stood a man; one with a bright blue bandanna and the other with...were those hearts on it? He couldn't be sure. They were obviously part of her team, as they wore the same earpiece as her. Plus, they were staring at him as if he'd killed a puppy right in front of them.

Ladybug crossed her arms, rolling her eyes as the men stepped forward. She'd obviously hadn't approved of their following her.

"We're just here to warn you," said the boy in blue.

"If you mess with Bug, you're messing with us. We won't take her getting hurt lightly." spoke the other.

"There's two more of them down the street," Ladybug drawled, exaggerating her tone. "They wouldn't let me come here without trying to terrify you first."

She stepped forward, ignoring the unhappy gazes her team threw at her.

Adrien grinned, though she couldn't see it.

"Well then, consider me warned." he joked, and the boy in blue snapped, coming close and grabbing his jacket.

"We're not playing around here, Chat Noir." he spat, "She's giving you a chance, we don't want to but she has it in her head to trust you. You even think of hurting her and we will **hunt you down.** "

Beneath the threats, Adrien could hear the fear. He knew the group had to have been close, it was the only explanation as to how in sync they were. It was slightly touching, actually, that they would go this far to keep her safe.

"I promise," Adrien spoke seriously, placing a hand on his shoulder, "I won't hurt her. I want to help."

The man in blue met his eyes, and for a moment he could swear he could _feel_ the pleading from that gaze.

Then, the moment was gone and his hand was brushed off.

"Well, we'll see about that." the man walked over to Ladybug and fluffed her hair, laughing when she tried to push him away.

"We'll be down the street, LB. Ready when you are."

"Wasting my time like this, Bubbler." she joked, waiting for the two men to get out of earshot before turning to him.

"So, you said something about heavy lifting?" he asked, not even commenting on what just occurred. Ladybug nodded, taking her bag off.

"Sure did," she responded, searching for something, before pulling out a wound up rope.

"And what, exactly, am I lifting?" he took the rope when she offered it to him, stepping closer to her.

"Why, me, of course. How else am I getting up there?" she pointed at the clear space.

He glanced up again and then back at her. No wonder her friends were so worried, she was asking an almost complete stranger to lift her several feet in the air. She could really get hurt if he wasn't up to the challenge.

Luckily, he was.

"Well then, I wouldn't exactly call that heavy lifting."she laughed at his response and replied.

"Say that again in a half hour and I'll believe you."

She focused on her ear piece, and for a moment he wished he had one. He wanted to be part of the team, to communicate as a group instead of being just outside of it. Maybe in a few runs, they'd begin to trust him and he'd get one of his own.

"So, how do we do this then?" he questioned, testing his grip on the rope, trying to get himself used to it before they actually needed it.

"Easy," she said, pointing to a hanging light fixture that rested above the sign. The light itself was gone, but the bar that had held it up was still there. It was definitely thick enough to hold up her weight, but he couldn't say just how old or sturdy it was.

"Throw the rope over that. I'll tie myself in after we get it connected," she gestured to the gear she was slipping on. Climbing gear, probably bought originally for the billboard.

"You'll lift me, and hold me while I work my magic."

"Sounds like a dream come true," he joked, and she slapped his shoulder.

"Let's get this started, kitty. We don't have all night."

Ten minutes later, Ladybug was secured and in the air. It had taken a moment, trying to get the rope over the light, but once they did it was smooth sailing. She secured herself, gave him a thumbs up, and he began to pull her up. He didn't struggle with her at all, she weighed far less than even he expected, and when she asked; he told her she needed to eat more.

"I've got to say," Adrien began, looking up at her as she painted. "I don't mind seeing you from this angle."

He waited for an insult, or a glare, but the woman above him laughed instead.

"I'm sure you don't, Chat. How's the street looking?" the question was for him and for her team, he could tell by her tone. So when he looked back, checking to make sure they were clear, he waited a moment before answering.

"Clear on my side, Bugaboo."

"That's a new one. Thanks, guys." she looked down at him briefly, giving him a smile.

"Not used to not having to look over my shoulder every five seconds. You're a life saver, kitty."

"That's what I'm here for," he responded, watching as she shifted. He tightened his grip when she did so, the rope shifting along with her.

"This bag is a lot harder to use in the air, why aren't you holding it for me?" she joked.

"If I could fly, my lady, you know I would."

She couldn't use any of her larger stencils as it was simply too difficult to do so in her position. She was forced to free hand instead, but it was just as beautiful. Watching her paint was fascinating, she truly looked at home doing it. The pure white space had been changed drastically, turned to look as if it was covered in dirt. The edges looked as though they were ripping, with one long rip heading towards the center. That was where she had drawn a gorgeous flower, though the 'ripped' side showed the flower dying, , petals flying away. The stencils she did have she brought out shortly after, asking him to lift her just a bit.

He did so, informing her it had been just around an hour since the start of their venture.

She placed the stencils above the flower, spelling out in pure black letters _ **'Our country is wilting, don't be deceived.'**_

She asked him to lower her again, and he carefully did so, stopping only when she was below the flower.

There, she wrote out **'** _ **We see you, Gabriel Agreste.'**_

She was putting some finishing touches on the piece of art when he heard the unmistakable sound of the fixture above her shifting. The Metal of it making an almost scraping sound. He'd barely had time to adjust his grip as the rope shifted accordingly, and their eyes met.

"I think we may be on borrowed time here, Chat." she spoke, and he pretended he couldn't hear the nervousness there.

"I think you may be right, my lady." he responded, trying to calm down his racing heart. Readying himself for anything. If the fixture broke, she'd free fall, and from her height it would definitely hurt her somewhere. He listened for any more cracks, watching her movements like a hawk.

She sped up in her efforts, making the edges more detailed, cleaning up the flower a bit. With shaking hands she brought out her ladybug stencil, placing it directly beside the flower and spraying.

"Shit," she cursed, and he looked for anything that would make her do so. When he didn't notice anything, he questioned her.

"What is it?"

she removed the ladybug symbol and looked down at him.

"We've got company, close. Maybe three minutes." she dropped her ladybug stencil, letting it hit the ground.

"We're done here, let's get out before they get here."

He nodded, slowly lowering her down. If he rushed, the rope would slip out of his grip, and she'd fall. He needed to keep her as steady as possible.

All at once, everything went wrong.

The sound of the fixture above her breaking filled the air, the rope going slack in his hands as there was nothing to hold it up. He let it go without a thought, not even hesitating as he rushed forward.

His heart racing in his chest, he reached out for her, tackling her form and pulling himself around her as the combined force of his running and her falling sent him rolling into the building's wall. He felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, and he clenched his teeth to stop himself from yelling. He didn't let her go, only loosening his grip when her hands came to rest on his chest.

He glanced down at her, their eyes meeting. He could see the fear there, and knew it was reflected in his own gaze. Time seemed to stand still as they stared at one another, until finally she seemed to gather her wits.

"We need to go, Chat." she spoke, not seeming nearly as put together as her voice sounded.

He didn't want to let her go, the image of her falling still fresh in his head, but something at the edge of his mind was telling them she was right.

"We need to go, whoever is coming probably heard us. _We need to go._ "

 _That's right_. The company they were expecting. He let her go, ignoring the pain that coursed through him when she jostled his shoulder. She reached down with shaking hands to help him up, and he stood.

"Are you okay?" she asked, wrapping the rope up quickly and gesturing at him to follow her.

His shoulder hurt like hell and he was sure there was a scratch or two just waiting to make themselves known, but she didn't need to know that.

"Of course, my lady. What about you?" they turned a corner and in the distance he could see the man with the blue bandanna running towards them.

"I'm fine, I don't think there's a scratch on me. You really did save me back there." she said, and he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Then I did my job correctly."

"Ladybug, _Jesus_ , are you okay?" called her friend, and she turned to silence him.

"Don't yell! Someone could hear you!" she hissed, allowing her friend to wrap her into a large hug .

"I don't care, Wi-Fi is going to kill us both, this is the second time we've thought you were going to die," he said, and Ladybug rolled her eyes, pulling back.

"I'm fine. Chat saved me, _twice._ " she gestured to him, still standing there. He awkwardly waved when the man who had threatened him barely an hour before stared at him.

After a long, silent moment between them, the man finally spoke.

 _"Thank you,"_

Adrien could tell he truly meant it, and he held up his hands, unsure of what to do with such genuine praise.

"Just doing my job, I promised Ladybug I'd protect her."

The man continued to stare at him, and Ladybug looked back and forth between them.

"I believe you." the man said, and Ladybug seemed to perk up at that. Barely a moment passed before he began again.

"Go home, Chat. Ladybug will call you for our next go. Can you get back on your own?" he asked, looking pointedly at his shoulder. _Observant,_ Adrien thought.

"I'll manage." he answered. He could only hope his shoulder wasn't in too much trouble, he'd hate to go the hospital over it. His father would be all over him if that was the case.

 _'It's worth it,'_ he told himself as Ladybug walked away, her friend right beside her.

 _'So worth it.'_

* * *

 ** _A/N: So I hope you're all enjoying this! Thing are going to get a little more fun next chapter (or not fun, if you aren't here for sappyness). Thank you all for reading and supporting me, this has been a fun way to truly get back into writing._**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: A little R &R**

* * *

The next morning, Marinette forced herself to get up,her alarm sounding for the fifth time. As she stood, the soreness in her body made itself known in full force. She had gotten out of her fall with only a few bruises, a situation that could have ended in a very different way if it wasn't for a lot of quick thinking on Chat's part.

She could only hope that he was okay, Chat had looked pained when he left, though he had tried to hide it from her.

She brushed her thoughts of her double life away for a moment, instead focusing on getting ready for another day at work. She hissed in pain as she pulled on her shirt, _today was going to be difficult_. She made her way to the kitchen, hoping to grab something quick to eat and pack up a lunch; when she saw a very awake Alya on the couch.

 _Alya seldom woke up earlier than noon._

"What are you doing awake this early?" Marinette asked, grabbing an apple and taking a bite.

Alya blinked at her, and she could see the dark circles under her eyes.

"Couldn't sleep," she responded after a long moment, her voice sounding just as exhausted as she looked. Marinette set the apple down and made her way over to her friend, grabbing her chin softly.

"What's wrong, Alya?" she asked, keeping their gazes locked. Alya pushed her hand off, looking away from her. This close Marinette could see an extra detail there, a redness lining her eyes.

 _Oh No_ , she'd been crying again.

"It's just," Alya said, sniffling, tears forming in her eyes, "It's just, you could have _died_ you know? I keep imagining what could have happened.." she trailed off, and Marinette sat beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"Hey now-"

Alya turned to face her, the tears falling but her eyes furious.

"Don't _'hey'_ me! You know it was possible!" she wiped the tears away angrily, obviously unhappy she'd cried in the first place. "When we started this, I knew what we were doing was right. I knew that. Someone had to stand to him and we did."

Alya took in a deep breath, losing her anger in an instant. Leaving nothing but emptiness behind.

"But if you- _if you died._ " she choked on the words, her hands reaching out to grip Marinette's free one.

"I don't know what I'd do, Mari. You're my best friend, I can't—"

Marinette pulled her friend close, letting her rest against her chest. She had been surprised when Alya hadn't cried the night before, hadn't said a thing about the mission. Now, Marinette knew why. Her friend was in such a state of shock that she hadn't been able to, _and she'd missed it_. Too concerned with making plans and getting everyone home.

Seeing as Marinette didn't say anything, Alya continued, her grip tightening.

"Maybe," she paused, as if truly considering her next words. "Maybe we should _stop._ "

"Alya, **no.** " Marinette's reply was instant, releasing Alya so she could meet her gaze. "We can't just stop."

"Well then tell me what we can do because I can't keep doing this," Alya admitted, her tone panicked. "Your life isn't worth this, Mari! It's not, I just-" she broke off stopping new tears from falling.

"Alya," Marinette spoke softly, grabbing her attention. "I don't want to do this without you, okay? You're in shock, you haven't slept, and I don't even want to think of the last time you ate."

"But-"

"I'm going to call Nino, alright?" she waited for Alya to nod before she continued. "How about you go lay down and I'll tell him to come over, I _have_ to go to work. We can talk about this later." she leaned forward, planting a comforting kiss on Alya's forehead.

"Okay," Alya muttered, obviously displeased but far too tired to argue. Marinette stood from her spot, pulling Alya up with her. She walked to Alya's room, tucking her friend into bed when she made no move to pull the covers up.

"Get some sleep, Alya. You'll feel better in a bit."

She was gone before Marinette had finished her sentence.

* * *

One phone call to a very exhausted Nino and a long walk to work later, Marinette had finally made it to her building. She entered the main hall with only minutes to spare, speed walking past her coworkers and clients alike to reach the elevator. She was so focused on getting to her desk that she didn't notice the concerned glances being sent her way. Or the completely empty waiting area on her floor.

She made her way to her desk, pulling in a deep breath as she allowed herself to calm down. She smiled victoriously, having just made it in time. She set down her bag and looked over her desk, noting there were a few files waiting for her attention. She was sure there were plenty of emails awaiting her as well, she'd might as well get started!

She sat down, preparing herself for a long day and had just started to get comfortable when the door to her bosses office opened. As she knew from his calender, Gabriel didn't have any major appointments for the next thirty minutes, so there was only person it could be.

"Good morning Mr. Agr— _Adrien_?" she sputtered, confused. Adrien was hardly in the office so early in the morning, and he tended to avoid speaking with his father directly. So what exactly had he been doing?

"Why are you here?"

He didn't answer, instead, he gave her a severe look. He reached for the papers she'd yet to start on, stuffing them into a bag, before reaching over to her. She was in such a state of shock she could do nothing but watch as he saved the email she was looking at, before shutting down her computer.

Apparently the screen turning black was enough to get her wits back.

 _"What do you think you're doing?"_ she hissed, reaching for the bag that held all her papers. She wasn't sure what kind of joke he was playing but she wasn't amused! She didn't have time his games.

He glanced back at the office doors, then at her, and held a finger to his lips.

She didn't know why, but she stayed quiet just as he wanted.

"Get everything you need," he practically whispered, "We need to go."

She looked at the office doors uneasily, the worried looks he'd been throwing putting her on edge. She didn't argue against him after that, instead reaching down to grab her bag and push in her chair. He handed over the bag with her papers, and then he grabbed a sticky note from her pile.

"Why are we leaving?" she whispered back, watching as he jotted something down. From her angle she couldn't quite read what it said.

"He's _pissed_ ," Adrien replied. "Super pissed. I heard him break his favorite vase this morning, you know the one" he looked at her to see her response, and she nodded.

"Apparently Ladybug was out last night, and decided to mark up an area close to here." He had apparently finished his note and put his pen back into his pocket. "He saw it, and it set him off. He's been on the phone since."

"I-I see." she stuttered, wondering just what Gabriel Agreste was like when angry. Couldn't be good if it had Adrien panicking.

"Yeah," he spoke, placing the sticky note on her computer, and she was able to read it.

 _ **'Had to take Marinette for the day, needed some help with some of the files. On call if you need either one of us.' -Adrien**_

"I don't want you facing him when he's like this," he explained, gesturing for her to follow him. "He's already blown up on me."

They got onto the elevator and she could see the tension he held drop, as if the elevator was bringing them back to safety. When they were walking towards the exit, he looked over to her.

"Is it alright if I work you, today? I mean, that's what I wrote on the note, and I figure if we can get done early maybe you could possibly help me with picking out some classes?" the last part was said pleadingly, and she found herself laughing.

School was about to be back in, their final year of college creeping up on them.

"You haven't registered, either?" she asked, and he took her question as a 'yes', following her outside.

"Well, you know me." he joked as they began to walk towards her apartment. "I'm a procrastinator till the end."

He pulled out his phone as they walked, obviously searching for something. He was so engrossed that she had to literally pull him out of the way of a cyclist. The gasp of pain he released making her drop his arm.

"Are you okay?" she asked, searching for an injury. He nodded, rotating his shoulder and giving her a small grin.

"I overworked my shoulder at the gym last night, it's been aching all morning." he explained.

She frowned, standing closer to him in case someone needed to pass by.

"You really should watch that, you could hurt yourself!" she scolded, right before taking away his phone. "And stop staring at that while you're walking! Jeez, you're like a walking disaster waiting to happen."

He winked at that, switching spots with her and throwing his uninjured arm over her shoulder, pulling her into him.

"But that's why I have you, silly! My good luck charm," he squeezed her shoulder as he said it, and she ignored the urge to wince. His hand was directly over one of her bruises, but she didn't want to tell him that. The last thing she needed to do was try and think up a reason for her to be bruised all over.

He didn't move his arm for the rest of the walk, though his grip had lessened considerably. When they reached the apartment stairs, he let go of her, and she gave him back his phone. They reached her door within minutes, and she turned to him as she unlocked it.

"My roommate is probably still asleep, she had a really long night. So, just be a bit quiet, okay?" she spoke softly, and he nodded.

It had hardly been two hours since she had left, and yet here she was, back at home.

Adrien closed the door behind them after they were both inside, and Marinette gestured for him to sit on the couch. She rolled her eyes as he looked around curiously, having never been at her place before. She left him to his wandering and crept to Alya's room.

She expected to see Alya in bed, maybe with Nino curled against her. Both of them were so tired that they definitely should have still been sleeping. What she didn't expect was neither of them being there, the bed completely empty.

She counted backwards from ten in her head, calming herself down.

 _Work now, yelling at your best friends for not following your simple advice later._

She wandered back into the main room, watching as Adrien made himself at home. He'd taken up residence on the couch, setting up his laptop and his papers on the coffee table in front of him. She noted absently that her own papers were in the remaining free space, him having placed them there for her.

"Well aren't you comfortable?" she joked, grabbing her laptop from her desk and coming to sit beside him. He made a grand show of leaning back into the couch cushions, nuzzling his face against it.

"I could get used to this," he said, and she tried not to take his words seriously; instead focusing on setting up her laptop so she could get to work.

"So," he spoke after a moment of silence, "Is your friend asleep?" he asked, looking back towards Alya's room.

She frowned.

"No, she's not even here." she responded, a touch of bitterness in her tone. She pulled up the email she had been working on before she'd left the office. "I called Nino, her boyfriend, over to try and help her rest. She's been staying up too late and she always sleeps better when he's around."

"Having too much fun at night?" Adrien asked, and Marinette almost laughed.

 _'If you call panicking over me almost dying fun, then yeah!'_ she thought. But instead said;

"It's always like this at the beginning of school for them. They're both so easily stressed, it's ridiculous."

He nodded at that, and she congratulated herself for being so believable.

"I can understand that, it's difficult picking classes and trying to manage your time, especially when we're this close to the end." he said, bringing something up on his laptop before angling the screen towards her.

" _This_ is what I wanted to see you earlier. This is what my dad was so mad about."

She looked over, only to see the blog, _again_. A picture of her art from last night posted by a guest mere hours ago. She wondered who was so quick to react, but pushed it off. It couldn't be anyone she knew.

"When is this one from?" she asked, watching a pleased grin form on his face.

"Last night, I think." he answered, "I'm the one who took that photo, after all. I know it wasn't there yesterday."

 _Scratch that_ , it was someone she knew very well.

"Wait, what? Adrien, why?" she asked, eyes wide. He shrugged.

"It's a beautiful piece. Besides, my dad's been trying to get someone to take it down since he saw it this morning, I figured there should be some proof of it before he gets his way."

So she had almost died, had gotten Chat Noir _hurt_ , for basically nothing. Oh, Alya was going to love this.

She tried to stay positive. There was photo evidence, and plenty of replies to the post if what she was seeing was anything to go by. Adrien had made it worth something, whether he realized it or not.

Still, she was worried for him. He didn't deserve the backlash standing against his father could cause, and taking photos of her art could end badly for him.

"Just don't let him see that you took it," she said, trying to sound casual. "I don't need him firing you over some street artist. Besides, I'd go crazy being alone with all those old men."

He laughed at her teasing tone, giving her a giant grin.

"Are you finally admitting that my presence in your life is a good thing? Why, Marinette, after all this time? I'm _touched,_ truly." he held his arms out, bringing himself towards her. "This calls for a hug!"

"Don't push it," she said flatly, flicking his forehead and hoping he didn't see her blush. She couldn't handle him when he got like this, he was too much for her and her poor heart!

"Seriously though, be careful for a while when it comes to dad, okay?" he said, tone suddenly serious as he put his arms down.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"My dad tends to...take his anger out on others. As I said earlier, he took it out on me first." he explained, before reaching over to rest his hand on hers.

"For the next few days, just avoid him. Come to me first, take your work home. Whatever you do just _stay away from him_. I don't want you getting fired, either."

"Aw," she joked, trying to lighten the suddenly intense mood. "You act so much like you care."

It was meant to be a tease, but his eyes met hers and he didn't hesitate with his response.

"I do."

The air changed all around them, electricity crackling. Every part of her that was touching him was on _fire,_ and she felt herself leaning in to his warmth; ready to burn. _**Falling, falling..**_

Her mind chose that moment to give her a reality check.

 _'Wait, you can't! Remember!_ _ **Gabriel's son!**_ _Ladybug, what's your deal?'_

She blinked, forcing herself away— _when had she gotten so close_ —and let out a laugh, awkwardly bumping his unharmed shoulder with her fist. She turned away so quickly she didn't see how red he was, a matching shade to her.

"I just realized we got so distracted by" _what had they been talking about before that almost disastrous turn?_ "Yo—your father! That we forgot about all this work." she gestured to the paperwork on the table, quickly reaching for one.

"Oh, y-yeah." he responded, running a hand through his hair as if to calm himself down. _Was he as affected as she was?_ "Yeah, you're right. Of course, I can't believe we forgot about that."

"Yeah," she laughed, trailing off as the air shifted again, this time an awkward fog settling around them.

Both tried to focus on their work, hoping that they'd eventually be able to read the words in front of them.

* * *

Three hours later, work finished, the previous awkwardness having faded away after a few quips; the two sat comfortably as they ate lunch. They had turned on a sitcom that neither of them recognized as they did so, instead just enjoying the others company. The show itself was just background noise.

Somehow, after Adrien had finished his food, he'd found himself leaning against her, his head on her shoulder. She pretended not to notice it, just happy to have him talking to her again.

"You know, we should probably register for those classes, Adrien. We've only got a few more days." Marinette said, drawing his attention away from the TV.

"But _moooooomm._ " he drawled out, burying his head in her shoulder. "I don't want to go to school."

She laughed, elbowing him in the side. He lifted his head off of her shoulder and pouted, bringing a hand to the injured area.

"Not buts, mister. We've got to be responsible adults," she smiled when he flopped onto the other side of the couch, exaggerating his reaction.

"But I don't want to, that's so _boring_." he complained, and she leaned over him. He shifted, facing her head on, and she poked his nose.

"If it wasn't boring it wouldn't be adult." she joked, not realizing the position she was in.

But Alya and Nino, who had just entered the room and watched the entire exchange, did.

"Well this _isn't_ what I expected when I walked in the door." Alya spoke, causing Marinette to look up, suddenly realizing the position she was in and scrambling to get away. Her face blood red.

Adrien had the nerve to simply lean his head back, looking for the first time at the newcomers.

Alya walked further into the room, dragging an unhappy looking Nino along with her.

"So I'm guessing you're Adrien," she spoke, ignoring Marinette's stumbled excuses. Adrien sat up and held out a hand, meeting hers in a greeting.

"That's me," he answered, and Alya took a minute to look over him. He looked fit, and was definitely the type she'd expect Marinette to go for. She'd always been a fan of blond.

Marinette stood from the couch, gesturing to her friends, realizing she'd yet to introduce them.

"Yes, and this is Alya. I've told you about her." she said, and then pointed to Nino. "And this is her boyfriend, Nino."

She excused herself for a moment, heading towards the kitchen to grab herself a water and Alya watched as Adrien's eyes followed her the entire way.

 _'Someone's being obvious.'_ she thought. Nino apparently thought so, too, because he crossed his arms. The _overprotective brother syndrome_ was going to make it's appearance again, apparently. Alya stifled her laugh at his expression.

"So you work with Marinette, right?" she asked, coming to sit in Marinette's spot. She noted he moved slightly more the side, as if to distance himself from her. So he was picky when it came to personal space, huh?

She wondered if Marinette would believe that.

"I do," he answered, eyes only coming to meet hers when it became obviously rude not to.

"And why aren't either of you working today?" another question. She had a million of them swirling in her head, just waiting for him. Marinette had been talking about him for months, she needed information.

"My dad's blowing up at anything that moves right now. I told Marinette we'd be better off elsewhere." he explained, giving her a smile.

A very practiced smile, at that.

"Yes, and then he came over and we _worked._ " Marinette came back into the room, a glass in each hand. Adrien thanked her with a very _different_ smile then she had just gotten as he took it.

Alya was truly enjoying her time here, although Nino obviously was not. He'd yet to speak a word; instead he hovered on the other side of the couch. Watching all of them.

"Didn't look like you were working to me," he spoke up, his voice almost a grumble. Marinette's face that had just calmed down heated back up, but she still had the ability to form a response.

"Yeah, well, you two don't exactly look you're _sleeping,_ either. So you've got no room to talk."

Her tone was irritated, and Alya and Nino shared a look, knowing they couldn't explain in front of their present company.

"That's not the point." Nino argued, and Marinette crossed her arms.

"Uh-huh."

"So," Adrien said, trying to clear the air. "Since we're all here, not working _or_ sleeping. Why don't we relax or something?"

All three of them looked over to him, silence filling the air. Finally, Nino cracked. He gave a hesitant smile, as if he wasn't sure why he was giving in but knowing he didn't have a choice.

"Good idea," he said, coming to sit beside Alya. Marinette mourned her seat, knowing better than to try and sit on any of their laps at this point, and went to grab a kitchen chair.

" We should play twenty questions or something," Alya teased, sending Marinette a wink before looking back to Adrien.

"Marinette has told me so much about you."

Adrien wasn't quite so good at hiding his pleased expression as he was other things, as he prodded about just what Marinette had said.

 _This was going to be fun,_ Alya thought with glee.

* * *

The sun was setting when Adrien left, two new numbers saved to his phone. Nino and him fist bumped as their goodbye, promising to meet up later that week. The two of them having bonded over their mutual love for music and everything tacky.

Alya watched him go with a smile, and the minute he was down the stairs, far out of hearing range, she turned to face Marinette.

"Girl, you _know_ you gotta." she said, knowing Marinette would catch her meaning.

Luckily, Nino had retreated into her room to make a few calls, so he didn't hear her. The last thing she needed was for him to get all protective brother again after she'd done so well at calming him earlier.

"Alya, _no_." Marinette said, rolling her eyes at Alya's questioning face. "You know I can't get involved with him, I'm Ladybug."

Alya placed her hands on her hips, quirking an eyebrow at her friend.

"You looked pretty involved when I came in. And don't pretend you two weren't flirting even with us here." she came close to Marinette, running a hand down her arm as she continued, mimicking her tone. "' _Oh stop it, Adrien! Stop grabbing my leg when you think people don't notice!'_ "

"I-I never said that!"

Alya let her hand hand drop.

"I know, and I **did** notice by the way, neither one of you are very discreet. If I didn't think you were both incredibly attractive, I'd say it was disgusting."

Marinette couldn't resist laughing at that, though she still shook her head.

"We don't have anything to be discreet about, Alya."

"Yeah, and I'm sure you'll be saying that til you're on your back."

"We're friends!" Marinette sputtered, and Alya argued.

"Friends that are waiting for a chance to _attack_ each other, maybe. You know what you're reminding me of?" she asked, stopping the flow of the conversation. She'd never get Marinette to admit to anything this way.

Her friend needed to get her head out of the ground.

"What?" Marinette asked hesitantly, knowing whatever it was couldn't be good.

"Alix and Kim, before they got together. They kept saying _'no, we're just friends. We aren't hyper competitive to hide our urge to fu-_ "

"Alya!" Marinette scolded, and Alya shrugged.

"And what did you tell Kim when you had a chance? Do you remember, because I do."

Marinette pouted, not wanting to respond when Alya had her in a corner. Finally, after a very victorious grin crossed Alya's face, Marinette spoke.

"I **said** that they were going to miss their moment, and that it was worth it to give them a try."

"Exactly," Alya nodded, "And then they stayed cooped up in Kim's room for an entire day, and now they're happily together."

"But-"

"And _now_ , I'm giving you the same advice." she interrupted before Marinette could try to find an excuse. "He is _into_ you, girl. And you're into him. Friends don't get in each other's space like that, don't act so oblivious."

Marinette frowned, eyes lowering to glare at her feet.

"He's Gabriel's **son.** " she repeated, and Alya had the urge to smack her.

"Listen, Mari. You can keep saying that all you want, as if that's going to change _anything_ in the end; but the two of you have serious tension." she heard her door open, and glanced over to see Nino walking their way. "One of these days one of you is going to crack, and that's going to be the _best_ sex you'll ever have."

Nino was apparently in ear shot for that, because he froze.

"Can you not talk about this while I'm here?" He spoke, regaining his wits.

Alya grinned, waiting til he was close enough before wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Poor baby, so worried for our sweet Marinette." she cooed before changing her tone."Did everyone say yes?"

Marinette looked over at them both, the red of her face finally fading away, their last subject forgotten. She was confused by the question, and what it meant.

"What's going on?" she asked, waiting for an explanation.

Alya released Nino and gave Marinette her full attention. She needed to convey her feelings correctly this time, she needed Marinette to understand.

"We're getting everyone together tonight, _**to talk.**_ " she emphasized the last part when Marinette caught on, ready to protest.

"Nino listened to me this morning, to my worries. He helped calm me down a lot." she explained.

Marinette glanced at Nino, as if waiting for him to have his say, but Alya continued instead.

"He told me we shouldn't stop what we're doing, despite what I said. Eventually," she reached for Nino's hand, intertwining their fingers. "I knew he was right, I knew we couldn't stop."

"Thanks, Nino." Marinette said gratefully, but he shook his head.

"Don't thank me yet," he said, looking away from her questioning stare.

Nino always hated giving bad news.

"We decided that maybe we should take a break-" Marinette went to argue, but Alya was faster. " _Not a long one._ " she continued in almost a pleading tone. "Just a week or two, just long enough to get back on our feet."

"But we've made him _angry_ , Alya, people are starting to talk and-"

"Exactly why we should take a break. He's pissed, and honestly, Mari." she stopped to take a long breath, knowing there was going to be a fight.

"We're tired;all of us. Including you."

As she expected, Marinette's fists clenched by her side, form defensive. _Good old predictable Marinette._

"I'm not-"

Alya was surprised when Nino was the one who interrupted her, his tone grave.

"You fell asleep in the car last night, Mari. You _never_ sleep in the car" he looked straight at her, gaze steady. _Serious._ "You get up earlier than all of us every morning and go to sleep later than everyone after runs. You hardly sleep, and yet you're our front runner."

He seemed to lose his composure for a minute, having difficulty scolding someone he cared about so much. She resisted the urge to lean into him, knowing he needed this moment.

"We're getting sloppy, and you know it. Last night could have ended in disaster if Chat Noir wasn't there." he said the last part almost bitterly.

Alya knew he hated admitting to that, it had been what he ranted about the longest when the two of them went out earlier.

"I wouldn't have been able to catch you last night," he spoke, honesty in every word. "You would've _fallen,_ and I wouldn't—"

Apparently, the thought of that was enough to make him stumble, his eyes tearing up as he was simply overwhelmed. Marinette's eyes widened before she was rushing over to them, pulling them both into a desperate hug.

In tandem, they wrapped their arms around her, the emotions from last night, from this morning, from _now_ spilling out. They gripped each other so tightly Alya could hardly breathe, but she didn't mind.

"I'm sorry," Marinette whispered, her voice full of the emotion in the air.

 _I did this,_ Marinette thought. _I made them worry like this._

She kept pushing them and _pushing them_ until they were practically broken. _Too stubborn,_ she had always been too stubborn.

"I'm so, _so_ , sorry." she sobbed, gripping them tighter.

"We don't want you hurt," Nino said, and Marinette felt him place a kiss to her head, Alya's hand running through her hair.

"I know. I do." Marinette mumbled, burying her face in his shirt as she reached for Alya's other hand.

They stayed like that for a long moment, allowing their wounds to heal, for their minds to catch up with the fact that they were _okay_ , that everything could be _fine._

Marinette pulled back, and the three of them released each other, not one of them with a dry face.

"Just one week, Mari." Alya promised. "Just one week and we'll go back to taking that bastard down."

"We can put up articles on the blog," Nino said, giving her a small, uneven smile. "And my tracks ready to go. We won't be silent, even now."

"Whatever you need," Marinette said, squeezing their hands. "We'll take a break for as long as you need it."

* * *

That night, pizza was ordered, chips were set out, and wine was chilled. Their friends arrived one after the other, filling up the small apartment in no time. Once everyone was comfortable, they began the meeting, and informed them all that there would be a week of rest.

"I'm sorry," Marinette apologized after they had finished discussing the change. "I know I get caught up in this sort of stuff sometimes, and then I forget things."

A laugh arose from her friends, everyone amused by her guilty expression. She looked at each and every one of them, just allowing herself to take in their appearances.

Nino and Alya were near the window, enjoying the cool air in the otherwise hot apartment. Alix and Kim were relaxing together on the couch; Rose and Juleka were hand in hand on the other side of them. Max was at the kitchen table, laptop out in front of him, and Nathanaël was sitting across from him.

It was the first time that she'd truly been able to notice just how tired they all looked, a heaviness to their shoulders that she hadn't caught on their runs. They looked like pale imitations of themselves.

They were her dearest friends, the very foundation of her heart, and she'd run them _ragged._

 _Selfish,_ she thought.

"So we're going to take this break, and if when it's over you don't want to continue with this; I'll understand." she spoke.

Giving them a way out, refusing to hold them down.

Alix seemed to find that amusing,snorting as she crossed her legs and tilted her head towards Marinette.

"No one's abandoning you, Mari." she said, and Kim followed.

"Yeah, we may be a bit worn out, but none of us are calling it quits here. We're in this til the end."

"Besides," came Rose's voice. "We picked out those names and everything!"

Everyone swiveled their heads towards her, laughing at just how serious she sounded. She blushed, ducking her head into Juleka's collar.

Marinette waited til they calmed, biting her lip nervously.

"Well, if you're sure..."

"Stop actin' sad and let's have some fun!" Alix grinned, standing from her spot on the couch, jostling Kim as she did so. She walked to the kitchen and came back with a wine bottle in her hand. Everyone watched as she expertly rid the bottle of it's cork, cheering when it popped.

 _'Tonight,'_ Marinette thought, taking the offered glass from Juleka when it came to her. _'Tonight I'll just be me, not Ladybug. Gabriel Agreste doesn't exist.'_

She listened to her friend's laugh at one joke or another, and found that it was possibly her favorite sound in the world.

* * *

The next morning, she woke before her alarm for work. She glanced around her room hazily, immediately noting Rose and Juleka's asleep forms beside her. She crept quietly out of her bed and made her way to the living room; remembering to keep silent as more people rested there. Alix and Kim were on the couch, Alix passed out on top of him. Nathanaël had fallen asleep against the wall, a blanket thrown haphazardly over him. Max was leaning against the couch, no blanket but a pillow under his head.

 _My friends are ridiculous_ , she thought.

She looked through her computer desk, finding what she looked for with little effort. She pulled out the phone, turning it on quickly. She pulled up the number she wanted, and began to type up her message.

 _**'We're taking a one week break, Chat. Rest up and be ready.'**_

It was only a moment later when he responded.

 _**'Understood, my lady.'**_

* * *

 _ **A/N: I hope you're enjoying this little break between spraypainting, because I sure am. Tension is sure picking up between these two, and I'm having so much fun writing it! I'm glad a lot of people are telling me they're giving this a chance, despite it not being a fic with powers involved, it makes me happy to see that people are still liking it regardless! We'll be back to our regularly scheduled revolution soon. ;)**_


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Warning, minor blood mention in chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter Six: A different Approach**

* * *

It had been a week and a half since the request for a break had been made. The time for their break to be over had come and gone and now Marinette was becoming antsy. The team was ready to start planning for another project, it had already been discussed, but there was something that was holding them back from moving forward.

They had no ideas, no plan.

No one could think of a thing to do, they were lost; all of them. So, until they could figure out something they had to continue on with their lives. Go the school, sit through work, there was simply nothing they could do until inspiration hit. Alya promised to keep the blog updated and relevant in the meantime.

Marinette tried to think of a plan, she really did. But she had bigger problems on her plate. Problems that were currently sitting _right beside_ her.

Ever since university had started up again, Adrien's presence in her life doubled. He had been with her almost daily, claiming that studying together would increase their grades and allow for more insight into their work given they had the same major. She couldn't argue against his reasoning because it made sense, and that was where the problem began.

She'd thought they'd spend most of their time in the university library, surrounded by others for the majority of the time. And they had, _for all of five minutes_. Adrien claimed it was too loud and invited her to his place. Not hers; where there was Alya and Nino. _But his_. Foolishly, she'd gone with him without an argument, and now she was in trouble.

Not that he was doing anything she didn't like, but the trouble was she was alone with him. She didn't trust _herself._

She knew that it shouldn't bother her, not logically. They were friends, close friends, but Alya's words were getting through to her head and she was starting to question why she wasn't making a move on the man. He was so attractive, and funny—if not a bit cringy, _why the puns?_ She always felt so comfortable with him, and she could tell by his attitude that he felt the same about her. The fact that he was Gabriel's son was starting to matter less and less every time he touched her.

And _oh god_ he touched her, she'd never noticed how much until she'd given in to her feelings. Little touches, _all the time_. A hand on her knee when he felt she needed comfort, fingers brushing when they walked too closely, every time he touched her she felt like she was on fire. Sometimes he'd hug her, either as a greeting or a goodbye and she'd practically melt, it was almost embarrassing how quickly she reacted to his embraces.

It didn't help that the man was almost constantly in her area, as if the idea of 'personal space' didn't exist to him. It would be so easy for her to just reach over and grab him, pull him to her and close the mere inches that remained between them.

 _'Tension is right,'_ Marinette thought.

As if knowing where her thoughts had taken her, and deciding to torture her, Adrien drifted towards her from his spot on the couch. He had been diligently studying until only moments prior, when he'd closed his workbook and huffed. She laughed as he gave her a pleading look, the spot on her lap that she knew he wanted taken by her book. She shook her head, ignoring the accompanying pout, and said.

"Unlike _someone_ who's given up, I want to finish this chapter."

He sighed dramatically, and instead curled up beside her, his head finding a place on the curve of her shoulder instead. She tried to ignore the pounding of her heart and instead reached beside her to grab the remote controller for the television, hoping the sound of anything besides his breathing would distract her.

"Put on something, maybe it'll keep you busy." she said, and he took the controller, hitting the button to turn it on and shifting his head so he could see the screen. She felt more than saw him move, his arm going over the couch to rest behind her head. She was so aware of him and it was _destroying_ her.

"Is this okay with you?" he asked, breaking her from her thoughts. At first, she thought he was asking about his position beside her, and she was about to tell him that _of course,_ there was nothing wrong with him clinging to her.

And then she saw that his attention was on the TV.

 _'Oh',_ she thought.

He had changed the channel to a cooking show, she couldn't recall the name of it. The contestants were apparently having a very difficult time though, as they all seemed extremely unhappy in their situations.

"Yeah, it's fine." she answered, for the moment giving up her book. She closed it and set it to the side, shifting her body so she could be more comfortable. She'd become more daring recently, her legs shifting to rest over his, upper body moving to where he was resting more against her chest rather than her shoulder.

If he had any complaints about the change, he didn't speak them. So she simply basked in his presence, knowing if she wanted to, she could pretend that this was something so much more than what it was.

"When's Nino coming to get you?" she asked once a commercial came on, her attention drawn to the top of his head.

As if his other friend was somehow bad news, he grumbled, his arm over her head coming down to rest at her waist.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you, maybe you should actually speak." she teased, and he glared up at her.

"I said, he should be here around seven." they both glanced over at the clock, noting it was just after Six-Thirty. "I don't understand why you can't just come along, we're just going to a movie."

His unhappy pout made her giggle. She reached a finger over to tap his nose playfully, enjoying the way it scrunched up in response.

"It's supposed to be a boy's night, Adrien."

That was the excuse she would give, one her and Nino had agreed on the first time Adrien had questioned it. In reality, the reason was that Alya and her were going to be walking the town, trying to find something to target. They couldn't stay quiet forever, not when they were finally getting through to the public.

"Well 'boy's night' is dumb, you should just come anyways." he said, and seeing her look he continued. "We could even invite Alya, it would be fun."

"Nino wants time with his new BFF, Adrien. Stop being so pouty," she joked, "Besides, you see me _everyday_ , you can survive a singular night without me."

Nino and Adrien had developed a surprisingly strong friendship in the span of a week. She'd always see one of them texting the other, making plans to meet up. Adrien had actually left her to eat lunch on her own once while he went to meet Nino. He'd apologized for it afterwords, claiming Nino really needed to talk to him in person, but she'd brushed it off. It wasn't a big deal if he had things to do, it wasn't as if she owned his time or anything. In fact, she was happy about them hanging out. Adrien seemed as though he needed more companionship, and Nino was an amazing person.

The fact that it cemented him further into her life wasn't a bonus, _not at all._

The commercials ended it, and the sound of the re-intro music broke her from her thoughts.

The show introduced a new segment, involving the cooks working together in a team. One cook would work on desserts, the other would work on soups, and the remaining ones would work on appetizers and entrees. Each one had a purpose, and when put together they seemed to work quicker than they had in previous challenges.

 _'They're getting a lot of ground covered that way,'_ she thought, and then, as if the angry chef had come out of the television and slapped her, it hit.

 _'Oh,'_ she realized. _'That's not a bad plan.'_

Gears began turning as inspiration struck, her mind going through each pro and con of her plan. She was so distracted by her sudden idea that Adrien noticed, a curious expression taking over his face. He opened his mouth to ask just what was on her mind when he heard the sound of his front door opening. He didn't move, instead clinging to her tighter as an irritated Nino entered the room.

If anything, his expression soured more when he saw the position they were in.

"Seriously, bro?" he spoke, and the sound of it brought Marinette back to the present. She shifted, making him move away from her as she did so. "Check your phone sometimes, I was out there for a good ten minutes."

Adrien knew exactly where his phone was. It was sitting in his bedroom, on his desk. On _silent._ He always kept it that way when Marinette was over, and he knew that Nino was aware of that. He'd meant to put it next to him on the couch when he sat down, but Marinette had distracted him.

 _'Whoops'._ He thought, and sent Nino an apologetic look.

"My bad, Nino." he also spoke, deciding it was best to clear the air in any way he could. Nino's irritation faded, his response a shrug.

"It's no biggie, I knew you were in here. But still."

Marinette took that as her cue to go, and began to gather all of her things. She shoved her books none too gracefully into her bag and grabbed her phone from the table. Adrien was still seated on the couch when she stood from her place, and she ruffled his hair as she did so.

"Well, I'll leave you two to your man time," she jokingly stated, walking past Adrien to give Nino a hug. "You coming over tonight?"

"Nah," Nino replied, "Movie's gonna go late, Alya needs her sleep."

She knew that despite him saying that, she'd probably see him in the morning. He'd hardly spent a day in the last week at his own place, all Alya needed to do was ask and he was there. It wouldn't be long until the two of them would be moving in together, she could tell just by the way they'd been acting.

Not that she'd tell either of them about her thoughts, they needed to figure it out on their own.

"Alright, see ya later, then." she turned to Adrien and waved, "Bye bye, Adrien."

"Mari, wait-" he started to say, wanting to keep her there for a just a moment longer; but she was gone. He sighed, settling back against the couch and giving Nino his fiercest look.

"Sorry bro," Nino spoke, amusement in his tone, "Didn't mean to interrupt."

The pillow he threw at the man was response enough.

* * *

The plan was finally set, and it was their quickest prep time yet. It had taken only a week to make all the stencils, and to buy all of the paint they'd need. Marinette was surprised how quickly the team agreed to her idea, the enthusiasm shocking. She'd expected some denial, maybe from Alya or Juleka. But everyone had been on board.

Perhaps it was because this was the first plan to include everyone, and it would ease any lingering fears of her going it basically alone.

 _'Well'_ she thought, glancing at Chat standing by her side, _'Not completely alone.'_

He'd been content with the idea of them all working together, taking in the added people with grace. However the moment she'd listed teams, and what exactly they'd be doing, that happy attitude changed drastically. He pulled her to the side, out of earshot from the others but still remaining away from any street lights. _Still so careful with her._

"I don't like this," he spoke, and she snorted.

"Really, I couldn't tell." she replied sarcastically.

His eyes were sharp, an extremely displeased glare there.

"I'm serious," he began. "Last time we went out you were almost hurt, and we were almost caught. I don't want to risk you now."

She sighed, and did her best to explain her reasoning.

"We can't do this together, Chat. You and I have done this before, we know how to get in and out of places quickly and we know how to handle ourselves. Some of them" she gestured to Alya, Rose, ad Juleka. "Haven't even been on a run before, they have no idea how to handle a situation gone bad."

"Then why have them here in the first place?" he questioned, and yes, that was _anger_ there.

She met that fury with her own.

"We need the _whole team_ here for this, Chat. One lookout, one painter. If we're going to cover the city we need-"

He cut her off, a desperate edge in his voice as he gripped her shoulders. Neither of them saw Nino's glance cut over to them, a knowing expression on his face.

"I don't like being separated from you." he admitted, his eyes searching hers for understanding.

Instead, there was only confusion. _Why was he so upset? Why did this matter so much to him?_

"We've only been on one run together." it's all she could say, because she truly didn't understand. It shouldn't be a big deal, _why_ was it?

"But I-" he paused in the middle of his retort, catching himself before he could ruin anything, and instead said; "It doesn't matter. You're too important to risk."

She felt herself soften at that, he only wanted to protect her, as he had before. Even he must have been shaken by their close call before, she could understand that.

If she could change the groups now, she would. But she couldn't risk two newcomers going out together, and she needed him to see that.

"I can't put us together for this, Chat. Please understand," she reached over to grab his hand, gripping it tightly as she looked over towards Alya.

"I need you to take care of Wi-Fi for me, okay? She's one of my closest friends, I only trust her with you. _Please,_ Chat."

He sighed, squeezing her hand back before dropping it.

" **Fine** , for you, I'll do this. I'll be the _purrfect_ bodyguard for your friend. But if you get hurt.." he trailed off, before meeting her gaze. "Well, let's not talk about that right now."

The fact that he punned was enough to ease her mind, and the two walked back over to the team. A silence fell over the group as they returned, everyone waiting for orders.

Marinette had split the groups up according to experience. Those who had been on runs, with those who hadn't. Alix had been placed with Nathanaël, Kim with Juleka. Nino was taking Max and Marinette had a somewhat terrified Rose by her side. Alya came to stand beside Chat, looking just a bit miffed to be placed with the singular non-familiar person they had in their group. But Marinette hadn't been lying when she said she trusted Alya to only Chat; even above Nino. Chat was quicker, and there weren't any feelings involved there. She could trust he wouldn't make any emotional decisions.

She could see a lot of unease in the group, and she knew it wasn't from the mission itself. Chat wasn't the only one unhappy with the arrangement. Alix and Kim hadn't wanted to be separated, and although Juleka and Rose had understood, they didn't like the idea of being apart. Nino had fought against her for a good ten minutes the day before, until she finally had to sit him down and explain that she wasn't changing her mind.

They'd stay in the teams she'd assigned, and they'd do this quickly and efficiently.

"All we have to do is stick to the plan, guys. You have your partner, stay with them. One of you is to spray, the other is to be lookout." they nodded, and she continued. "Bubbler and Gamer have north, Dark Cupid and Reflekta have south. Evillustrator and Timebreaker, you've got east. Chat and Wi-Fi have west," she had to resist rolling her eyes and their displeased expressions, and continued. "And we've got the surrounding area. Remember, five blocks, then paint. Then another five. We want to cover as much of the area as possible. When you've reached your final area you are to meet up with your corresponding team."

She waited for their confirmation before she started again.

"Tonight's gotta be big, but we don't want any mistakes. Report every time you finish your set, and if anything or anyone interrupts or is a danger to you, you are to run and report the minute you're safe. _Do not_ risk yourselves, I don't want anyone hurt."

"I've got no way to report to you," Chat spoke up, gesturing to his ears. He was the only one in the group without an earpiece. Alya crossed her arms, an irritated look on her face.

" _I'll_ cover that, you just focus on painting."

"Alright guys, let's do this." Marinette exclaimed, and then they split.

Without any hesitation, Marinette began looking for a good wall, knowing she'd need to cover as much as she could within her circle area. It was Rose who eventually pointed out a stark brick wall, right within view of the street.

"Good job, Princess." Marinette said, smiling at the red flush her friend gained. Rose was always embarrassed when praised, she was happy she was the one working with her tonight.

Rose held on to the stencils and the paint as Marinette set up, and as she began painting Rose handed things over accordingly. She'd glance around from time to time, making sure that they weren't going to be interrupted.

Luckily, the painting this time would be quick. It had to be with such a large group. The entire project was different from their usual flow.

There was no free hand, no actual art involved. Instead it was all stark white, stenciled letters. The first line, in largest letters, read _'We are not afraid, Gabriel Agreste.'_ and underneath, in smaller letters, was the website link for Alya's blog. Last, but not least, she'd placed her ladybug symbol directly beside it in bright red.

Not everyone had the same website, as they didn't want to risk Alya being caught. Some had other popular blogs, or websites that shared their message. Nino had the link to his specially made music page, full of music that was made by those against Gabriel. All of them shared the same phrase though, and everyone had their own ladybug stencil.

They city was going to see their message, whether they wanted to or not.

"First area finished, moving on to next location." she said, and soon after Nino replied.

 _"Same here, moving on."_

On Chat's side, silence surrounded the pair as they walked. Adrien looked anxiously around for a spot, anything to speed this mission up.

"You're not what I expected," Alya spoke, breaking the silence. Just as she did so, Adrien found a good spot within their location, and gestured for her to follow him. They began to set up, and he finally responded to her.

"And what exactly were you expecting?" he asked.

He took the stencils as she handed them, glancing over just in time to see her shrug. He turned back to his work, putting the first stencil up and spraying.

"I don't actually know. Just not you, I guess." she replied, and he found himself freezing. What did she mean by that? Did she _know?_

"Am I supposed to be insulted by that?" he asked, keeping himself calm. He handed her the used stencil and grabbed the other one.

"No, not really." she shook the stencil he had just used, trying to dry it out. "I'm just not sure what to think of you. I mean-" she paused, thinking over her wording. "I'm really grateful that you saved LB. I don't think that will ever change, but you're a stranger. You came out of nowhere," she frowned. "It's too convenient."

He should have known she'd be the more suspicious of the group, she wasn't any different without the mask. It wasn't difficult to place who she was, for the extra pieces to click into place. Not that they hadn't the minute he'd seen Nino in person.

"And you have all this info that not even LB has, and she's-" she caught herself before she could say exactly what her friend's occupation was, but Adrien could easily fill in the blanks.

 _'She's my father's assistant. I know. I'm still his son.'_ he thought to himself, knowing he couldn't just drop that on Alya when not even Marinette knew.

"I can't decide if I should trust you or not." she finally admitted.

He sprayed on the ladybug symbol and turned to her, giving her a smile she couldn't see. He gave her the can and shook the stencil.

"I understand that." he spoke, and they went back to walking, avoiding the lights and counting the blocks in their heads. "I can't make you trust me by just saying you can. I can tell you I won't hurt her, but that's all I can do."

They reached their second spot and Alya handed over the materials again, her gaze confused.

"That's what makes me so nervous, even though I don't want to- _I believe you_."

"Thank you," he responded instantly. He gave her what he hoped appeared to be a happy look, and she was struck by how familiar those eyes looked in that moment. When he turned away, the moment was gone.

 _Maybe she was imagining it._

They moved on, her only really speaking when people called over the ear piece. Rose and Marinette were finished and heading to meet up with them, as they were the corresponding group. Alix and Kim had already finished and were at the rendezvous point, just waiting for everyone else to be finished so they were clear to leave.

They reached their final position, and had begun to spray when Alya heard the sound of footsteps coming quickly from beside them. She turned, ready to greet Marinette when instead she was met by three men. Three men who she did not know, but based on the knives in their hands, she could bet they meant _business._

Knowing she didn't have any other chance, she raised her hand to her ear piece and said the code for _'danger'._

* * *

 _"Akuma,"_ Alya called, and Marinette's blood ran cold.

That was all it took for her to turn to Rose, knowing she needed to act quickly.

"Go to Nino, stay safe. I'll handle this." she explained, pushing her friend in the direction she needed to go.

"But, Mari-" Rose began.

"No time! Go!" she called, breaking off into a run. They'd almost been to their location when the call came, she was maybe two or three minutes out. _Too far._

If Alya called _Akuma,_ that meant people, _dangerous_ people. Her best friend was likely being attacked, maybe by Gabriel's men, and she wasn't _there_.

She tried to reassure herself that Chat was there, that he'd proven himself and that she'd be fine as long as he was there. But this was Alya, and she couldn't handle it if anything happened to her.

She reached the block they were on, and ducked down, creeping forward along the wall just enough to hear the exchange going on.

"How much do you think Agreste would give up for turnin' you in?" came a voice, then a feminine grunt. "Probably a lot, right?"

Marinette looked around herself, trying to find a weapon. Her mace wasn't going to be enough here, not when there was definitely more than one of them. If it was only one person, Chat would be able to handle it.

"You won't get anything for either of us, we're not who you're looking for." she heard Chat say, and she knew wasn't imagining the caution there. The reasoning.

His reasoning wasn't enough, and the men cackled.

"You're Ladybug, or at least part of their team. You're exactly what we're looking for."

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted metal trash cans. She carefully made her way to them, gripping the lids as quietly as she could and taking two of them off. _Maybe she could use them as a shield?_ Or a weapon, if she had the opportunity.

 _'Better than nothing,'_ she thought.

"How about a trade? I'll come with you, if you just let her go." Chat spoke, and she glanced around the corner.

Alya was pinned against the wall by one of the men, the other two had their backs to her, pointing their knives at her partner. Keeping him away from her.

"Why?" asked the man pinning Alya, looking away from her to glance at Chat. "You sweet on her or somethin', or is this **The** Ladybug?"

She'd enjoy taking him down.

She crept into the alley, their attention not shifting as she made her way over. However Chat noticed her immediately, his eyes widening minutely. She could see the terror there, could practically hear him pleading for her to stop in her head. But instead she just winked, throwing one of the garbage lids as hard she could at one of the men as she rushed forward, tackling the man who had Alya by the throat.

What happened next, happened _quickly_. Chat dove for the remaining man, quickly disarming him, the two of them going out of her sight as they fought. The man she tackled groaned, trying to shift up to attack her, but instead she used the garbage lid for the extra force, slamming it down against him, banging his head into the concrete bellow. The sound of something cracking satisfying her.

"Ladybug!" Alya yelled, gaining her attention. She'd moved from her spot on the wall and had reached down to grab the lid she threw brandishing it as a shield as the final man came towards her. She tried to fight back, but if she swung Alya risked a knife to the gut.

Marinette jumped from her spot, not even hesitating to swing the garbage lid as hard as she could. When the man looked back, ready to turn and face her, he met the metal of the lid instead; he was down for the count. Alya rushed forward, dropping the lid to hug her, and it was then she heard the sound of fabric ripping, and a hiss.

She turned just in time to see Chat's fist meet the man's nose, knocking him back so hard he hit the the wall behind him. She wasn't concerned with him though, instead she was focused on Chat. He rose a hand to his chest, the grimace of pain obvious as he pulled back and red stained his exposed fingers.

She felt fury fill her chest, and didn't know what to do with it. She was just so _angry._

"We need to get out of here," he said, gesturing for them to follow him. "I don't want to be here when they wake up." Alya didn't hesitate to follow him, obviously shaken as they moved along. But Marinette didn't move a muscle, instead; she met eyes with the man who'd hurt Chat. Who'd had the _nerve_ to hit her partner.

She felt herself lose control as she rushed forward, keeping her eyes locked with the man as she walked towards him before she swung her leg, her foot meeting the already broken nose. She heard Alya gasp as she made contact, the sound of the bone crunching, of the blood pouring, wasn't enough to satisfy her.

She allowed herself to be pulled back by Chat, his hands gripping her shoulders tightly.

"Let it go, it's not worth it." he said, or at least he started to until the man spoke up.

"You stupid bitch." the man muttered, "You just wait, you'll get-"

Chat kicked him in the stomach, his anger matching hers. As he fell over, Chat backed away; shocked at what he'd just done. He grabbed Marinette's hand and walked away from the scene, shaken by his sudden aggression.

They walked silently down the street, Alya rushing forward as Nino came running from the opposite direction. He caught her as she jumped to him, the two embracing tightly. They stood there for a long moment, just reassuring each other that they were alright.

When he pulled back, he explained the situation.

"I sent the rest home, I came as soon as I could."

"Did Rose make it to you?" Marinette asked, and he nodded, giving her a disapproving look.

"You shouldn't have ran off on your own." he scolded. She shrugged, and turned her attention to Chat.

Alya rested her head against Nino's chest, still shaking. A man had attacked her tonight, had held her neck in his hands. This was the risk they took by going out every night, the risk _Marinette_ took. She glanced over at her best friend, wondering if she was just as shaken over the situation; and froze.

The scene was too familiar to be coincidence.

Chat was against the wall, his jacket gone as Marinette fussed over him. She watched as Marinette ripped open the shirt, revealing the still lightly bleeding cut to her. She slapped his shoulder in reprimand, the two meeting gazes as she glared at him.

That's when Alya saw it.

"I _purromise_ I'm okay, my lady." he spoke, his eyes soft, "It's just a scratch."

Alya _knew_ that look, _knew_ that body language. She saw it almost every time Adrien came over to her house.

"You can't worry me like that, kitten. Look at what you did!" Marinette responded, ignoring him when he tried to grab her hands with his own. Instead she dug her hands through her bag, pulling out the bandage wraps she had.

"I can't stop the knife, bugaboo." he joked, and Alya almost ended the entire charade there. He was just so _obvious_ , how had Marinette not noticed?

"Well next time, move. I don't want to find a new cat," she grumbled.

Alya looked up at Nino, drawing his attention down to her and whispering.

"Do you know who that is?" she asked, and he looked away guiltily. So he had known _all along_ , and yet he'd put up all that fuss about a 'stranger' with her.

"How long?" she glared. He chuckled nervously, his hand going to scratch the back of his neck.

"Basically the entire time?"

That cleared everything up almost instantly. How the two of them had become such good friends so quickly, why he trusted Marinette with her when he never trusted men who wanted to date their best friend. Everything fell into place like the final pieces of a puzzle.

"What are you two whispering about over there?" Marinette asked, she'd finished cleaning and bandaging _Adrien's_ chest and he stood behind her, shrugging his jacket back on.

Alya wanted to laugh at the irony. Marinette wanted _so badly_ to get him out of his clothing—even if she wouldn't admit to it—and she had just undressed him while yelling at him.

Oh, she was going to enjoy this.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you all for reading, as always! I'm happy to read so many positive responses, especially considering a lot of them are from people who said they weren't quite sure if they wanted to take a chance on this, so I'm glad you all did! There will be further explanation as to how Adrien fully figured out everything later, don't worry, thanks as always!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven: Anger, Tension, And a Boy About to Break**

* * *

Marinette awoke, for once, not to the sound of her alarm clock; but to Alya's voice. She was screaming for her to wake up, to hurry into the living room. Marinette groaned when her friend didn't stop, glancing at her clock through bleary eyes.

 **'6:20 A.M'**

She faked a cry, forcing herself to move when it became obvious that Alya was going to keep calling for her. She could still be asleep, she didn't have to be up for work for another thirty minutes.

 _'This better be worth it.'_ she thought, making her way into the next room. She blinked at her _awake_ friends, Nino standing directly beside Alya in front of the TV. He must have stayed the night.

"What going on?" she grumbled, coming to stand beside them. Just as she did so, Alya un-muted the TV.

"Watch, Mari." Nino said, gesturing at the screen. She glanced over, actually allowing herself to process what was on it.

Suddenly, she felt _extremely_ awake. The words staring back at her enough to jolt her.

 _ **'Fact or Fiction: Ladybug's ongoing campaign against Gabriel Agreste.'**_

"Are you serious?" Marinette asked, actually going through the motions of pinching herself. There was no way this was real, there was no possible way they had made the news.

When the face of a popular newscaster took over the screen, she was convinced.

 _"Good morning Paris, this is Mireille Caquet, and welcome back to this morning's top story. Ladybug, an underground 'street artist' who's making people question our nation's leader."_

The woman shifted, and it was then Marinette noticed she was on location, walking down the city streets. She had been so distracted by the fact that _this was real_ to realize it.

 _"For months, Ladybug has 'tagged' our streets with 'art'. They've taken over bridges, to signs, even sidewalks are used to spread their message."_

Images of her past projects flashed across the screen, the months in which the photos were taken marked accordingly.

 _"Now, we have something just a bit different. A message, and information to go along with it."_

The websites they'd used were pulled up, showing Alya's blog as the forefront. Marinette and Alya exchanged amazed glances, both too in shock to actually speak.

When the image refocused on the woman, she was standing in front of one of the spots they'd painted only last night. The stark white letters against brick even more obvious on the screen.

 _"This message has been placed all over Paris in but a single night, and with such ferocity put into this 'art' we must ask ourselves; do they have a point? Are we being blindsided by own our government? We'll cover that and more later today. Back to you, Aurore."_

Alya muted it as the camera switched back to the main anchor, the three of them facing one another as the realization hit that what they had just seen was _real._

"We were on the news." Alya said, "If it's on TV, then you know there's gotta be articles online."

"And if we're online, as more than just a blog then that means people are beginning to take us seriously." Nino responded, excited.

Marinette was ready to smile, to celebrate with them, when a shocking realization came over her that made her cold.

"Guys, we were on the news." she said, her voice suddenly small.

"Yeah, I know!" Alya exclaimed, not noticing her friend's troubled expression. "The traffic on the blog is probably going insane right now."

"No, you don't understand, if we were on the news" Marinette's hesitant tone made them both focus their attention on her. "That means Gabriel saw, what does that mean for me?"

As if by magic, just as she spoke Nino's phone vibrated. He looked at her apologetically before he opened the text, and then he froze.

"Mari, Adrien says you need to get to work _right now._ " he spoke, "He also said to find him first, before anything else. Said he's tried calling you but you haven't answered."

Of course, she'd left her phone in her room, still on the charger. She didn't think she'd need it.

"Mari," Alya said, placing her hands on her shoulders. "Don't be nervous, if you have to, _quit._ We don't need you working there anymore. I won't risk you getting caught."

"That would be too suspicious, Alya." Nino replied, but she glared at him.

 _'He's right.'_ Marinette thought, it would be too suspicious to quit and even more so to simply not show up. She knew going into this that one day, she'd have to face Gabriel Agreste head on, knowing there was a higher risk for her to get caught then anyone on her team. She had accepted that there was a possibility that she would be caught, or hurt, or jailed.

She had just never truly considered the consequences of what could happen to them if she was taken in. never considered that her team, her friends, were in as much danger as she was now.

"I've got to go." Marinette said, forcing away her fears and rushing to her room.

She couldn't mess up, couldn't even give the slightest clue of who she was. She'd never had issues before, but that was before Gabriel was forced to acknowledge that her art was more than just 'bad press'.

 _'I will do this.'_

* * *

The minute she arrived, it quickly became obvious that her coworkers were in a state of panic. Some of them were practically running to their spots, trying to keep clients from angering even more than they already were. She hoped that once she reached her floor, things would be a bit calmer, but as the elevator opened she realized that wouldn't be the case.

Her floor, usually empty at this time of the morning was full of people. Press, other representatives, and even a few of the public that had somehow found their way up. She tried to find an opening for her to pass by, to reach her desk, but the stare of the press was enough to keep her rooted.

 _'What should I do?'_ she questioned herself.

Should she walk forward, if they questioned her should she answer? How would she respond, what would the questions be?

She spotted Adrien as he pushed past the crowd, his eyes flashing in anger as someone tried to stop him.

"No comment, _on anything_. Remove yourself or I'll have someone do it for you." he said coldly, the person backing up reflexively.

She'd never seen him like this, he'd always been a calm individual with easy smile and a flirtatious flair. He looked almost like an entirely different person, someone far removed from what she was used to. There was nothing there of the pun loving, dramatic boy she had come to know.

It unsettled her.

He made his way over to her uninterrupted after his last comment, and the moment he was focused on her something shifted. The Adrien she knew came back as if he'd never left, concerned eyes gazing down at her as his hand settled on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" he asked, and she nodded, unsure if she should even speak. He offered a small smile, before softly pulling her towards him.

"Listen," he whispered, walking them past the crowd slowly. "No matter what happens today, _do not_ leave my side. I've never seen my father like this, I don't want you anywhere near him."

"He saw the news, then..." she trailed off, and he nodded, sighing. They reached her desk and he pulled out her chair for her, acting as a bodyguard as she began to set up.

"Yeah, he did. Obviously, everyone is going crazy. It's all over the internet. Someone in PR really messed up this time, nothing has ever gotten this out of hand before."

She bit her lip nervously as she turned on the computer, wondering just how full her inbox was. There was nothing physical on her desk paper wise, but she knew that was probably because of just who was on their floor. The minute the press, with their sticky fingers, was gone, she was sure that would change.

"Why haven't they been removed yet?" she asked, her eyes widening as she saw just how many unread messages she had.

 _'This is going to take_ _ **days**_ _to get through.'_

"Gorilla is with my dad," he responded, referring to the head of the police assigned to the building. "Until he's out, he can't call the rest of the force, and they won't listen to me."

"I see," she said, scrolling through the emails. All of them were so politely written but the undertone of the words were filled with anger. Every person wanted answers, every client felt as if they were next to be targeted.

 _'I have no time for small fry like you,'_ she thought, distracting herself from the fact that she had no idea how to respond to them.

"Don't reply to any of them," Adrien spoke, and she realized that yes, she had just spoken her concern out loud. "It's not worth it, dad will take care of it. Anything you do right now won't be what he wants."

"So what do I do then?" she asked, and he shrugged, glaring at a man who came a little too close for his liking.

"Vultures." he muttered under his breath, and she forced back a laugh. He really hated the press.

 _'At least he can talk to them,'_ she thought, _'I just froze up.'_

The doors to Gabriel's office opened, the man himself walking into the open. He merely frowned at the cameras pointed his way, turning his head to slightly glance at his guard.

"Take care of them, now." he said coldly. 'Gorilla' quickly nodded, his voice low as he called for back up.

Adrien shifted closer to her as Gabriel turned his attention to them. She forced herself to remain still as he walked into her area, his eyes shifting from Adrien to her.

"Meeting in the council chambers in twenty minutes." he spoke with no preamble, his eyes narrowing at her. "Make it happen, ."

She ignored that he hadn't even called her by her full name, and immediately set about _'making it happen'._ Adrien had been pulled away for a private discussion, and by the time he was back she had barely finished making the arrangements.

She was so flustered by needing to get so much done in such a small amount of time that she hadn't noticed Adrien's clenched fists, or the tension he held in his shoulders.

* * *

She had been able to set up the room quickly with Adrien's assistance, and just as they had finished brewing coffee people began pouring in. The meeting was for everyone in his council, and all of his employees. She didn't even try to find a place to sit, instead situating herself against the darkest wall she could fine. She felt safer there, in the dark. Almost like how she felt when she was Ladybug.

Adrien didn't leave her side.

The room was silent, even as people grabbed for coffee and made their way to their seats. There wasn't a singular person willing to risk speaking, even though Gabriel hadn't even arrived.

The moment he entered, she could feel the air of the room shift, a nervousness taking over.

 _'Don't make yourself noticeable.'_ she told herself, trying to keep herself calm.

Adrien's shoulder brushed against hers, and she felt herself release a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She focused on the feeling of him beside her, his presence being the only thing keeping her together. She was _brave,_ she was _strong_ , but right now, she was terrified. She felt as though she walking a tight rope; one misstep and he would know exactly who she was...and then all of her friends would be in trouble.

She didn't notice that she had reached out, seeking the closest comfort she could find. Her hand caught his, her grip tightening as she made contact. He shifted the grip, intertwining their fingers to make their connection stronger. She only noticed what she had done at that moment, her eyes shifting to his face.

He was staring directly at her.

"It's okay," he whispered, the sound of his voice being drowned out by Gabriel's voice on the other side of the room. She ignored the man, instead focusing on the what was in front of her. "I'm right here."

She needed to pull herself together, needed to stop this. She was ladybug, she was proud of challenging Gabriel Agreste. She wouldn't let anything happen to the people she loved, everything would be fine. She didn't have the time to panic, she needed to focus.

Gabriel's words broke through her thoughts.

"I am incredibly disappointed, in all of you. First, multiple news resources were able to publish this 'information' without any consultation from me." he began, his tone icy. "And this 'group'- this 'Ladybug' has been running around for months without any of you even beginning to catch them in the act."

"There were three men who claimed to have met some of Ladybug's team last night, all injured." claimed one man, and Gabriel shifted to see him.

"And yet that's the closest we've gotten in months to knowing a thing about this group of _traitors._ " he hissed. "These people covered half a city in one night and that's the only information we have on them."

"What would you have us do, sir?" the man spoke again, "We can't put cameras in every section of the city, and we don't have enough men to cover all of Paris."

"That's what I've hired you for, to figure this out." Gabriel responded without a hint of sarcasm. "I want this fixed, people. If you don't get me results I will find replacements who _can._ For now, I want this entire 'news' debacle figured out, it should have never been allowed in the first place."

He turned, meeting her gaze throughout the crowd.

" I want an interview for tonight to counteract all of this, since no one else here is competent enough to manage it." he spoke, his eyes traveling down and narrowing on their joined hands. "If you fail me, do not think I will take it lightly. Your future is at stake here."

The threat there was clear, the tone empty but the words as sharp as a knife. She felt any lingering fears melt away, to be replaced by a burning hot anger. When his eyes came up to meet hers once more she shifted, raising her chin and summoning as much confidence as she could.

"Understood, _sir._ "

If he heard the slight mockery there, he didn't mention it. Instead, turning away without a word to meet the rest of his staff. He went through each person, reprimanding them and giving out demands as he saw fit. Treating his people like disposable goods, acting like they were _below_ him.

It was only Adrien's constant grip on her hand that kept her in control, her anger a fire in her veins. Forget fear, forget nerves, all that she felt at the moment was the desire to destroy.

She needed to go out, soon.

* * *

When she returned home that night the apartment was empty. She knew it would be, Alya had sent her a text explaining her and Nino were having a date night. It made things easier for her, with no Alya in the house she wouldn't have to wait as long, and she wouldn't need to explain why she was taking her ladybug gear with her; she could just wear it instead.

The anger of the day was still strong within her, and she knew exactly what she wanted to do to rid herself of it. It was risky, going out only a day after her last mission. Patrols would be everywhere, and the public would be more rowdy because of it. But she wanted to go out, she wanted to act.

And she knew exactly who would back her up.

 _'Hopefully that cut isn't too bad'_ she thought to herself as she pulled out the disposable phone Chat had given to her.

Chat would be the perfect person to go on a run with, and besides; she had a gift for him.

 _'Well, two gifts.'_ She thought, pulling out the spare ear piece. Alya had informed her the night before that she trusted Chat, though she wouldn't fully explain why. She'd told her on their next run that Marinette should give him the ear piece as a sign of good faith and partnership.

So she wasn't breaking any rules, or doing anything wrong. She was just going out to give a gift to a friend.

And maybe spray painting a wall to spite her boss, _so what?_

 _"Ladybug?"_ came Chat's voice over the phone. She hadn't even realized she'd hit the call button due to her own distraction. She wasn't surprised by the questioning tone, he wouldn't expect a phone call directly after a mission.

"Up for a late night run with me, kitty?" she asked, "Just you and me?"

She heard him shift in the background, as if he was sitting up.

 _"What's the occasion?"_ he asked cautiously.

She reached for her bandanna, gazing fondly at the pattern. She had hated it so much in the beginning.

"There isn't one, technically." she responded, "Though, I guess we could count getting under Gabriel's skin as a reason."

 _"Sounds like a_ _ **purrfect**_ _reason to me."_ he laughed at her groan, and then continued. "When are we doing this?"

"Half an hour, as usual I'll give you the location."

"I'll be there." he promised, and she hung up.

It would be incredibly dangerous going out on her own. She had no backup waiting her if she misstepped, no times prepared or a get away plan. All she had was faith that Chat Noir wouldn't fail her, and for some reason that was enough for her.

The thought that they may need to run for their lives tonight wasn't frightening, as a matter of fact it was exhilarating.

* * *

She arrived at her choice of location before Chat, although it had taken her a few minutes longer than she hoped. The roads, as she expected, were full of patrols. Alleyways had become the only way she could get by without being caught; and the thought alone had her blood pumping. For a moment, right before she'd reached her spot, she'd had to hide behind a dumpster for a full ten minutes while a patrol was on the phone.

Needless to say, she really didn't care about the strangers disputes with his partner. She had just wanted him to move.

Finally, he had. And she'd made perfect time then, though the fact Chat hadn't been there was sightly disappointing.

 _'Oh, well.'_ she thought, _'More time to get ready.'_

Her target of the night was a sign from his campaign days. It was old and worn. She was surprised it was still up, actually. The location itself wasn't bad, the sign high enough to be seen from other buildings, and the area itself was rather popular.

"Bound to get some attention now." she muttered to herself, her eyes fixing on the escape stairs for the building nearby. It was in just the right position for her to shimmy her way over to the sign. The staircase itself ending right in the middle of it.

She looked for the bottom of the stairs, knowing there had to be a way to bring them down, or a way to jump up to them. She spotted the perfect spot just below the drop off of the stairs. If she jumped—just so, she'd be able to grip the the rails and climb up.

She did so, bending low to the ground before leaping, her hands grasping the bar above her without a problem. She quietly shifted herself, allowing her legs to help in the process. Within seconds, she was on the stairs.

"So what's got you all determined tonight, Ladybug?" came Chat's voice. She glanced over the bars to see him standing below her, arms crossed as looked up at her.

 _'He must have snuck into the alley while I was climbing',_ she thought.

"I don't know what you mean." she responded, gesturing for him to follow her. He leapt, reaching the same bar she had. She leaned down to help him up, easing his way onto the stairway. When he stood to his full height, steady on the emergency stairs, she noted just how little their space there was. How close they were. She could smell his cologne from this distance, and strangely, it was almost familiar...

"I can _purractically_ smell your anger, my lady. What happened?"

His words broke her from her musings, and she shook her head. She turned from him, beginning her climb up.

"I don't know if I should talk about it, it's personal." she stated, "We're supposed to keep things professional here, wouldn't want you knowing my identity now."

"And why's that?" he asked, "What's wrong with me knowing when everyone else in your team obviously does."

She stopped at the top of the stairs, turning to face him. A serious gleam to her eyes.

"This," she gestured between them, "This is one thing, going out at night and you being my 'bodyguard', but you're another person."

"Okay? And?" his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and she sighed, turning away and setting down her bag. She preferred scoping out her target than meeting his gaze.

"If I'm caught now, I have no idea who you are. Your name, your work, nothing. You're not at risk." she pulled out her first stencil, pointedly ignoring what she knew was him staring at her as she set up.

"My team I can do nothing about, they're at risk all the time, just like me. But you-" she shook her head, spraying quickly over her bosses faded face. "The only thing I know about you is that you're a good man, one who saved my life, probably twice."

"I'd say it's worth the risk if it helps our teamwork." he responded, though it was quiet.

"And I say it's not. But, since you're so nosy." she turned her tone to teasing as she picked up another stencil. "I had a really bad day at work, is all. My boss threatened me, and he treats his employees like trash. It just lit me up, I guess."

"Hence the late night trip, then." Chat spoke, coming to stand beside her. "Anger management via spraypaint?"

His questioning tone made her stop, her eyes flitting to his before focusing back on her work.

"You sound as if you disapprove." she muttered.

"I don't, as a matter of fact I came out here because I had a really bad day too." he admitted,

"Why's that?" she asked, when she saw his disbelieving expression she became immediately defensive. "Hey, don't give me that look! I shared, now you have to. Just no names."

"Worried about me, you said. Can't get personal." he teased. "But no, I'm happy to share. I trust you with it."

He didn't speak for a second, and she knew that he was gathering his thoughts. Trying to figure out a way to be vague, and yet explain at the same time. A difficult ground to reach, she knew from experience.

"My father and I..."he started, watching her finish with the stencils. They were obviously not new, tape over parts of them, holding them together. Tonight had been set out too quickly to be nicely put together.

"We've never really gotten along, at all. And lately it's been even worse. But today." he stopped himself, glaring into the air. She pulled out her Ladybug stencil before prompting him to continue.

"Today?"

He huffed and gripped the bars in front of him.

"Today he tried to force me to do something I refused to do, and then tried again when I did the opposite of what he wanted."

"That must have been bad." she said hesitantly, turning just enough to spray the Ladybug symbol at the bottom of her work.

"It was, but I don't care. He won't force me to stop-" he halted himself, shaking his head and letting go of the bars. "It doesn't matter, he's just not getting his way on this one."

"If it's something you don't want to do, then don't do it. No one, not even family, should make you this upset." she spoke.

He turned back to her, a guarded expression on his face as he looked over her work.

It wasn't much, it couldn't be given the circumstances. But her intent was clear. The letters covered the old sign, the bright red certainly bound to draw attention to the scene. And he knew, without a doubt, that his father was going to be even angrier upon seeing it.

 **'You should fear us, Gabriel Agreste.' **

He knew her reasoning for putting it up. She was confirming she had a team, had backup if he decided to come after her. She was also implying even if she was taken out, not everyone would. It was dangerous doing so after his explosion earlier that day, but he couldn't fault her for it.

 _Still.._

"A little confrontational, don't you think?" he asked, and she shrugged.

"I'm just sending a message." she retorted.

A moment passed then, and he let out a breath. She wasn't going to be telling him anything more, he could tell by her stance. There was no point in drawing out the night, or his time with her this time

Besides, they both had work in the morning.

"Well, message or not, I think we've overstayed our welcome here." he stated, "Probably time to call it a night."

"Not yet," Marinette disagreed, holding a finger up as she began to dig through her bag again. "I have something for you."

"What?" he asked, confused. What could she possibly have for him?

She pulled out a stencil and a can of black paint, handing them both over to him.

"I made this for you, as a thanks." she explained as he looked over the stencil.

It was a cat, or at least, a cats head. It was simplistically styled, the ears long, the eyes curved. She had made a stencil of his alter ego, of _Chat Noir._

"Are you serious? Why?" he was so amazed by the gift. There was no reason for her to go through such lengths for him, to include him in any major way. None of her friends had symbols, people who who had been with her since the very beginning; so why should he?

"Well, I mean...you saved me, twice." she explained. "And you saved my best friend, even though you really didn't have to. I trust you with my life, and with this." she pulled out the earpiece from her pocket, holding it out to him.

"My team wants you to have this, we want you with us, officially. This is why I wanted you to come out tonight"

"I...I don't know what to say." he didn't hesitate to lean down and accept her help as she attached the earpiece to him, his hands still taken up by the stencil and the paint.

"You don't have to say anything, just paint your symbol and be my Chat Noir." she said, and his eyes lit up.

The minute he was able to, he turned to the sign, found his spot—directly besides her symbol, and painted his took only a moment to gaze at their joined signatures before turning back to her the stencil in his hands being shaken to dry. _His stencil, that she made._

"Always." he spoke, testing the stencil with his fingers before stepping forwards to her. He held it out to her, figuring it would be better off in her hands. "I will always be your Chat Noir."

She reached out to take back the stencil, a quip on the tip of her tongue, when their fingers brushed. The air shifted around them, the city and the sounds faded away until all there was to her, was them. Her body moved of its own accord, eyes searching his for _something,_ though she didn't know what. Electricity was crackling all around them and she felt, somehow, that this was familiar. This was _right_. He looked desperate, somehow, as if he was holding himself back from doing something though she wasn't sure _why._

"Ladybug." he spoke, his voice lower than usual. "We _really_ should be getting home."

Time sped up, bringing her back to the present. She realized then just how close she was to him, how if she had taken one step further they'd be brushing against one another. She found that strange as she hadn't remembered stepping forwards, when had she gotten so close?

And why?

Unable to formulate a reason why she was reacting so ridiculously wrong towards her partner, towards Chat Noir of all people, she backed away. She felt guilt course through her at his uncomfortable expression, the tension set in his body a give away to how he felt. _She_ had done that, she'd made him that way. He was her partner and she'd put him into an uncomfortable situation and she wasn't even sure why she did so in the first place!

"I—I think you're right." she stuttered, trying to regain her wits. "Let's call it a night, Chat. Keep in touch through the earpiece, okay? We need to make sure it works."

She turned away from him as she checked through her things, making sure she had everything. She couldn't meet his eyes, didn't want to know what he was thinking.

"Yeah," he practically whispered, that guilt stabbing at her again due to just how _quiet_ he was.. "Okay, sure."

She wasn't a coward in any sense of the word, but she would be the first to admit that, that night, the minute she was off those stairs she ran from whatever problems she had almost created.

* * *

 **A/N: She thinks she's upset him but I think we all know that's not quite the case, is it? Next chapter is gonna be a lot of plot, or fluff, whichever more suits your fancy lol. I hope you're all enjoying watching poor Adrien suffer, I know I am.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight: Climbing the Mountain**

* * *

Marinette had been confronted by Alya the minute news hit on the blog about Ladybug's most recent work. She'd been dragged into an impromptu call with the rest of her team not longer after, and disapproval wasn't the correct term for their reaction to her outing.

"We're a team," Alya had scolded, "You shouldn't be out on your own."

The fact that Chat had been there—a man Alya claimed to trust—didn't seem to matter much to her then. She'd been hurt over the fact that Marinette hadn't even _considered_ asking Alya her opinion on the matter, and the exchange itself left her feeling cold.

But she still thought she was completely in the right to act on her instincts.

Her work with her Chat, however, was something she was fretting over. Their night had gone so well, the mutual trust exchanged had caused a tight bond to form—something she knew would come in handy on runs. But whatever that _thing_ was, the end of their conversation had altered things. Maybe destroyed whatever they'd built on their solo run. She wasn't sure, she didn't know. Was he offended, or upset that she'd gotten into his personal space? And why had she?

She still couldn't wrap her mind around it, and that bothered her.

She tried to push it to the back of her mind; her worry for her partner couldn't dwarf her ' _real life'_ problems. Her boss was bound and determined to find her, even more so after her second message. He wanted blood, and if she wasn't at the top of her game she'd find herself imprisoned without a chance of escape. Still, she a mess. From her team's reaction, to Chat, and her boss.

And to top it all off, the boy beside her really wasn't helping matters.

Marinette had accepted her attraction to Adrien, it had become simply too difficult to push aside any longer. When she informed Alya, it had broken the anger she held temporarily as she cheered her best friend on. It was as if a weight was off of her chest; no more denial, no more ridiculous amounts of caution in his presence. If he touched her she didn't have to force herself away. She could lean into it, return it if she wanted to.

That new freedom, however, had made life both easier and harder for her.

Easier, because now when he jokingly flirted she flirted back— _shamelessly_. He'd wink, she'd nudge. He'd caress her arm as he passed by and she'd stare him down as he did so. He'd make a pass, she'd return the gesture without a blink.

It was harder though, also. Because although she had accepted her attraction, and flirted with him mercilessly. He'd yet to make an actual move. She knew he had to have at least the tiniest bit of lust for her, there was _no way_ someone could fake that smolder. But beyond the words and the tiniest touches, there was nothing. She didn't want to suddenly shift their relationship without having some inkling of what he felt towards her. She didn't want to simply assume.

So, instead she set up the goal to subtlety push him into giving her answers during their study sessions. ignoring—although she didn't want to—Alya's recommendation to just 'jump' him. She would never do that without some form of consent, she was better than that!

Even if internally she was going _insane._

"I just really don't understand why I'm taking this class!" Adrien ranted, throwing his book aside and huffing. "It's 'required' but it's definitely not going to help me with my career."

He glared at the book resting on the floor, and she giggled. She briefly looked up from her worksheet for what had to be the fiftieth time since her arrival before forcing herself to focus on it again.

"Knowing people and understanding them is essential in our line of work, Adrien. Stop whining." she spoke up in a chiding tone. "Power through it."

"Says you." he complained, dramatically flopping over to her side of the couch. "Good at everything." he grumbled.

"I am not." she responded. "You're much better at economics than I'll ever hope to be, I'm hopeless."

"I'm only better because dad drilled econ into my head since I was _three._ " he said, "If you had more time you'd blow me out of the water."

"Untrue." she retorted. "Even with time you'd still be better. You _like_ numbers, I'd rather not deal with that too much if I don't have to."

He shifted a bit closer to her, and she immediately pushed aside any of the work she'd been focusing on. She knew she wouldn't be getting anything else finished that night, not if he had his way. She had learned very quickly that once the boy wanted attention, he would get it even if he had to destroy her work. Not that he'd ever do so on purpose, but one too many ripped worksheets had taught her a valuable lesson. The minute the spot on her lap was free, his eyes lit up, and he went for it, ready to rest against his favorite pillow.

Only to be thwarted by his no good cat, Plagg.

The feline had been waiting for the spot and had much quicker reflexes. Adrien hadn't even been able to lower his head before Plagg had claimed his territory, his cat eyes gazing uncaringly into his own annoyed ones. The cat had the audacity to purr as loudly as he could before nuzzling into her leg, only becoming even louder when Marinette reached down to scratch behind his ears.

 _That was simply unfair!_

"He does this _literally_ every time you come over." Adrien pouted, eyes narrowing "I swear I'm going to start locking him up,"

"Be nice to him!" Marinette argued, running a hand through his fur. "He's a sweet heart, you **rude** boy." she teased, cooing at the cat, giggling when he _'meowed'_ in response.

The cat leaned his head back and met her nose with his as she bent over, resulting in a cute kitty kiss. When she sat back up he could have _sworn_ Plagg was smirking at him, as if a cat could even smirk! He knew what he was doing, Adrien would swear to it.

He grumbled in his anger something that she couldn't decipher, and she glared his way.

"What was that, Adrien? You wouldn't happen to be saying anything rude about _Plagg_ , would you?" she questioned.

He scrambled, trying to play off that _yes_ , _that's exactly what he'd been doing._

"No, of course not. I just," he spoke quickly, looking for an excuse. "Just wondering if you wanted to order some food."

"Uh-huh." she was obviously not convinced, "Nice save there. You going to order the usual, then?" she asked.

"Yeah, my treat this time." he stood before she could argue. "You got it last time."

"Adrien." she warned, and he snickered as he began the call.

"Marinette." he teased.

He walked away before she could try to somehow steal the phone from his hands, how she'd managed to do so the last time she was over was beyond him! She watched him retreat to his room and close the door before sighing. She scratched under Plagg's chin and gave him a small smile.

"You love making your daddy angry, don't you baby boy?"

The cat meowed at her again, one eye winking as he shifted closer, nuzzling against her chest. She giggled and kissed the top of his head.

"Keep it up, Plagg. I think it's hilarious."

"Of course you would." Adrien called, his laptop in hand. The call hadn't taken long given it was their favorite place. "Plagg's the devil and you're obviously one of his minions."

"That's right." she replied instantly. He sat down beside her once again and began to set up, turning his eyes towards her only for a moment.

"Food will be here just around forty minutes."

"Perfect," she smiled, "I thought you were supposed to be studying."

He pulled up his web browser and shrugged.

"Too much studying is bad for you, I need a break."

"Is it?" she asked, watching him pull up his emails. With anyone else, she'd turn her eyes away; pretend she couldn't see a thing for the sake of privacy. With him, she simply came close to him, their arms brushing as she acted far more curious than she actually was. The position she was in must have been uncomfortable for him, because he shifted once. When that didn't yield the comfort he wanted, he shifted _again_. She didn't realize his arm had ventured around her until his fingertips rested on the other side of her waist. The feeling sending tiny electric shots were he touched. She tried to hide the red building on her cheeks by staring down at Plagg, not noticing Adrien's unsure expression in her own struggle.

 _'Okay, so this isn't a dream, right?'_ she asked herself, _'This is real...it is.'_

She scolded herself for acting like a teenager and leaned against him further, trying to calm down her fluttering heart.

"They're amazing." he spoke suddenly, breaking the silence and drawing her attention. She brought her gaze up, assuring herself that _no, she was not still the shade of her Ladybug bandanna_. On the screen was the blog, and the impromptu art session she had completed with Chat.

"You really do follow all of this stuff, don't you?" she asked. Every time she was over—which was, of course, nearly every day— he was on the blog. Sometimes he'd keep it up the entire time she was there, refreshing it for updates as the night went along.

"They're standing up to my dad, and after all of the crap he's pulled recently, he deserves it. I'm ecstatic about them." he said very happily, before his eyes narrowed in on the photo. "Wait, what's that?"

He pointed at Chat Noir's symbol.

"Looks like a cat symbol to me." she responded slowly, as if seeing it for herself the first time as well. Just because he was 'ecstatic' about Ladybug didn't mean she should tell him anything.

"Huh," he sounded. "I think you're right. Ladybug has a partner then?"

She hid her smile by biting her lip, running a hand down Plagg's back. _A damn good partner._

"Probably more than one, considering that city wide project that made your dad freak."

"True, but that's not exactly the sort of partner I'm talking about." he explained. "This person must be important in some other way, enough to have their own symbol."

Chat _was_ important. He was her protector, he watcher, and more importantly; someone she knew she could trust with her life. She knew it was foolish, considering she'd known him the least amount of time out of the entire group. But they just...they just _clicked._

"You're right," she agreed. "They must be at least as important as Ladybug to have their own symbol."

"Maybe," he trailed off, glancing at her briefly. "You know, if this 'Ladybug' is actually, well, a Lady. I'd probably be up for taking her out sometime." he said the words as casually as he could.

Marinette resisted the sudden urge to freeze; forcing herself to stay relaxed against him and giving a bright, teasing smile instead.

"Into bad girls, huh? Ladybug your type?" she joked.

He resisted the urge to say _yes,_ his heart a match to her racing one in his chest.

"I mean, of course. Look at how much she's done for me." he cursed himself for the slip, instead passing it off by continuing. This was an _opportunity_. They'd never spoken of anything remotely romantic before.

He wasn't going to waste it.

"But no, maybe I'd still get her a drink; but I'd have to pass on the date."

"Why's that?" she asked, chiding herself for her curiosity. She'd cover herself somehow. "Too scared?"

That was really the best next thing she could come up with? She held back the cringe and looked up, expecting to see an amused expression. Or something, anything other than the serious boy staring down at her. She didn't mean to, but she began to scoot away reflexively; jostling the cat in her movement. He jumped down just as Adrien reached over, his free hand cupping her cheek.

Her heart was going to beat out of her chest.

"No, not of Ladybug." he spoke softly, only for her.

She felt her cheek burning from his touch, and wondered absentmindedly if the heat was from the definite blush or just from him. She couldn't speak, too in shocked from how close he suddenly was. They had never been this close to crossing the 'invisible line' between friendship and romance. Once he was caught her eyes with his, he held them, searching for something in her gaze.

Her gaze lowered to his lips for what must have been a millisecond, but it was enough for him to lose his mind.

"But— _god_ —I am terrified of you."

the air shifted with those words, and she found herself grasping for the ability to communicate.

"Adrien, I-" she started, but her words only drew his attention to her lips, and that was all it took. His lips covered hers before she could finish her sentence.

It didn't start slow, there was far too much mutual yearning for that. His hand moved from her face to her hair, reaching for the ties of her bun desperately. The minute her hair was free he was running his fingers through it, tilting his chin as he did so. Her hands traveled without any restraint, one trailing up and down the _gorgeous_ arm keeping her close, the other finding its way to his upper back.

"Marinette." he spoke between breaths, the two of them pulling back only briefly to regain some air. His thumb, just that wicked, wicked thumb, brushed her neck and she whimpered.

They were on each other again.

She didn't fully recognize that she was moving, her body shifting of it's own desire. She wanted to be closer, _needed_ to be against him. She began to climb over him, Adrien only moving to better accommodate the change in position. She barely registered that her legs were on either side of his, too busy enjoying the sinful feeling of his hands trailing down the small of her back. She gasped into his mouth as he gripped her flesh, grinding against him in response.

She found herself furiously reaching beneath his shirt, begging with touch for skin to skin contact. After her second pull on the fabric he seemed to realize what she wanted through the haze he was in, leaning forward and breaking the kiss just long enough to pull the shirt over his head. She trailed both hands down his bare chest, the feeling of her fingernails sending shivers down his spine.

"Mari," he whispered, his eyes rolling back as her lips found his neck; trailing kisses down to his collar bone. One of those _incredibly_ sinful hands found it's way to the lower expanse of his stomach, and he hissed softly He gripped her hips and forced himself to focus.

"Mari, wait." he rasped, sounding as if he wanted to do the exact _opposite_ of what he'd just said.

She pulled back, breathing just as heavily as him. There was heat all around them, her eyes meeting his in question as they both struggled for clarity through the lustful haze.

This was when she was supposed to be embarrassed. When she was supposed to blush, to stumble and stutter on her words. But she wouldn't, her desire was far too great for such foolishness. She stared him down, unafraid of how he might judge her.

He cursed himself as he pulled her back to him, lips meeting just as fiercely as before. He shifted, and she allowed herself to fall where he wanted her. Her back met the couch cushions as one of his hands reached under her shirt. As his hand made it's journey up she simply shifted into the touch, back arching causing their chests to brush. He stopped just short of her breasts, cursing out loud this time as he broke the kiss. He brought his hand back away from where she truly wanted him and rested his head against her neck.

"I" he began, his voice deeper than she'd ever heard. "I really don't want to stop."

"Then don't" she replied without a bit of hesitation. She didn't care how fast this was, she'd wanted him for _months,_ she'd had feelings for him for long enough without acting on them.

She wasn't sure if she'd said the right or wrong thing, as he groaned in response.

"I have to." he croaked miserably, pulling away from her neck, avoiding her gaze. Never mind that she could still feel almost every inch of him against her, he refused to look at her.

"Why?" she asked, her hand reaching up to grip his chin. If he was going to stop this after starting it, for a ridiculous reason she was going to be just a tiny bit peeved. She forced him to look at her, her grip soft but true.

He closed his eyes before their eyes could meet, causing her to frown.

"Mari, if I look at you right now I-" he stumbled over his words, and she found that she liked it when he blushed. "I'll attack you."

She didn't see the issue.

"And?"

His face bled even redder, and she resisted the urge to coo in response. _So adorable!_

"I've wanted this—you, for too long." the admittance came out quickly. "For you to think this is some fling, or a one night stand...I wouldn't be able to handle that." he nearly choked on the words, "It's not like that, not to me."

He was going to make her poor heart _burst,_ he was so sweet! She'd never seen such concern before, such honesty from a man. She was glad his eyes were closed, because the grin she wore was more than likely that of a besotted fool. Her grip loosened only slightly, her fingers caressing the bottom of his lip.

"I wouldn't think that, Adrien." she spoke firmly, her other arm making it way to his neck. She felt him shiver above her, the arms holding his upper-half above her trembling.

"I would never think that, so open your eyes." she pleaded, leaning up to kiss one closed lid, then the other, before brushing her lips against his briefly.

"Marinette," he whispered, "I want this to go _right._ "

She'd never heard him so desperate.

She wanted it to go right, too. She didn't know exactly how much until that exact moment. Her head was reeling, trying to met sense of the sudden, intense, affection making it's way into her bloodstream. How long had she been hiding from this attraction, pushed aside Alya's words and her own growing feelings? How long had she claimed they could only be friends while yearning for more?

She didn't know, but she knew with certainty she wanted whatever _this_ was, to work.

"So do I," she answered just as quietly. "I want that too, _so much._ "

A moment passed, merely enough for a heartbeat, and his eyes opened. He met her gaze with that same searching expression she'd seen earlier that night. This time, he seemed to find what he was looking for, his eyes growing wide as he smiled down at her.

"I-I don't know how long I've wanted this." he admitted, and she found herself matching his smile with her own.

"Neither do I." she said it a bit giddily, enjoying the fact that her words made that _beautiful_ smile of his grow even wider. They stayed that way, merely smiling and enjoying that _yes,_ they had _finally_ crossed the threshold and neither of them were hurting. They wanted the same thing, they wanted each other.

Apparently, that realization was enough to bring them back together, lips brushing with a newly found softness. She leaned back onto the cushions and he merely followed her, their bodies shifting once more so he could pull her closer; laying beside her instead of over her. The fire from before was growing yet again, only tempered by the pure affection they held for each other.

Just as the kiss started to turn back to one of desire, his skillful fingers having trailed under that beautiful shirt that would simply _look so much better on the floor_ ; the doorbell rang. He ignored the sound, kissing her harder, bringing her somehow even closer. As if that in itself would stop the unwanted interruption.

It rang again and she pulled back, giggling at his very upset expression. She found herself pecking him on the lips once, then twice, before he pulled her back in for a long, slow kiss.

She could kiss this man for _hours_ if he let her.

"I think that's our food," she said once she'd pulled away. He pouted as she made to sit up, following her as she did so and kissing her just _once more_.

"I don't really care about the food," he grumbled, his fingers trailing patterns up and down her spine. She found herself laughing as he tried to leaned down to kiss her neck, only to be interrupted again by the doorbell.

"But I'm hungry, Adrien." she jokingly whined. He huffed, pulling himself away from her slowly and making his way to his feet. She took a minute to openly admire his chest, the curves and dips and muscles she had no idea he held. _The man was ripped._

Her eyes zeroed in on a scabbed over cut on his chest and something tickled at the edge of her mind, something familiar. She couldn't quite place it, but if she put her mind to it...

"Fine then, I'll get your food, _Princess._ " he complained, winking at her as he turned away.

"Empress." she responded instantly, and he snorted.

She felt lighter than air, and yet at the same time so comfortable with their changing relationship. This shift hadn't made anything awkward so far, hadn't changed a thing. Well, other than the fact that now she wouldn't have to stop herself from jumping him if he gave her one of those 'come hither' looks he always jokingly threw her way.

Or had it actually been serious the whole time?

He reappeared, their delivery in his hand. She found herself amused by his embarrassed expression.

"You didn't tell me I was shirtless." he spoke, and she laughed. How had he forgotten that?

The minute he sat down she practically curled herself beside him, wanting to re-obtain that contact from before and not being disappointed when he stopped un-boxing their food to catch her lips with his. He shifted closer, head tilting as he reached up to grasp her neck softly.

He pulled back slowly, savoring the moment to it's very end. He went back to the food, opening every package with quickness and efficiency.

"Well, let's try to eat this before I go crazy. If this goes cold I'm **not** to be held accountable." he explained, playfully holding up a piece of chicken to her mouth. His eyes widened as she didn't hesitate to take it from his fingers. Her stare unflinching as she chewed and swallowed.

"On second thought, we could always microwave it." he immediately went for her, food forgotten as they focused on each other.

* * *

 **A/N: Everytime I set out to write something way past fluff for this story I always stop myself short. Don't worry, there will be sin eventually, I just haven't found that moment yet! I hope you're all enjoying this so far, I really adore all the positive reviews, it bring a giant smile to my face! Thank you for reading, as always!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** **I know I'm a terrible person, this chapter is a break from the story to show us Adrien's side of things leading up to his time as Chat Noir. Don't worry, we'll be back to them being adorkable next chapter!**

* * *

 **Intermission: Take a Step Back**

* * *

Adrien Agreste had never stood up for anything important in his entire life. His mother had died when he was young—it had been an accident; a car wreck. But due to that, his father had become overprotective. When he'd been young, Adrien had barely seen the outside of his home. He'd been homeschooled, driven anywhere outside of the house, and always accompanied by one bodyguard or another.

In another situation, maybe he would've fought against his father. Tried to force himself out of the homeschooling, maybe gain the ability to make some friends; but he didn't. Every time he'd go to argue, his father would pass him this look, as if he'd been stricken. So Adrien didn't fight, didn't even try. Instead, he embraced the moments his father would allow him to have some semblance of a life. He'd accompany him to political meetings, to social gatherings, anything he could to see the outside world. He'd gained an understanding of the field his father worked in that way, and when Gabriel informed him that he wanted Adrien to go into politics he'd simply agreed. He didn't think there was a reason to fight against it.

College had been a breath of fresh air in his otherwise cooped up life. His father had finally allowed him freedom, classes that actually included other people, time to himself that didn't involve an armed guard! His father had approved him for an apartment, and had even helped with the preparations for him to move. He felt like he could breathe for the first time in his life.

Of course, there were limits. His friends, his girlfriends, his classes; they all had to be _approved_. He was 'free', but it was a lie. None of his choices could be truly and fully his, and it was slowly choking him.

His first true act of rebellion had been when his father was running for office. He'd been far too busy to control every facet of his son's life, and Adrien had noticed. So when Adrien came across the small, crying black kitten on his way home from school, he didn't even hesitate. He took the kitten home, cleaned it up, and gave it a name. His father _hated_ pets, and he had one.

Maybe that's why even after the cat, Plagg, grew and became an _unbearable,_ _spoiled_ brat he didn't try to get rid of him. That cat was his first true friend, and his first real choice.

By the time his father actually noticed his son's new companion, it was too late to do anything. Plagg was registered, updated, and all over his son's social media. To force Adrien to abandon the cat was simply out of the question, as it would damage the family reputation. If there was one thing Gabriel Agreste truly cared about, it was reputation.

So he'd kept the cat, and made it his goal to bring the little guy out to play each and every time his father visited.

His second had been to follow a girl's journey to help his father's campaign. He'd first seen her online, being livestreamed at a publicly held event that she was running. After that, he had needed to know more. Someone his age, making such a large impact was simply amazing. He'd been amazed at what he learned with a bit of researching. She directed events, created fundraisers, and rallied interest for his father.

He _still_ needed to know more, needed to know _her._

He didn't realize he was in trouble until he saw her in person. She'd called for volunteers for a painting project, and he'd showed up to the place hoping for a chance to speak with her. But she was surrounded by people, and all of them were just as involved as she was. He'd watched her spray one of the oldest, dingiest walls in the city. She had made it beautiful again, as beautiful as she was.

At that thought, Adrien knew he was a goner. He couldn't help it, the girl—Marinette, looked so _free_. He wanted to be like that, too. He was smitten.

He began dropping hints to his father's campaign adviser, Nathalie, that she should look into Marinette. He'd informed her of how much recognition his father had received since she became involved. Why wouldn't they look into hiring her, or at least letting her intern? Nathalie had promised to look into it after his third time asking.

He saw her again after his father won months later. He'd came to the office after school, his father had been concerned about his grades despite the fact he'd yet to get anything less than a perfect score. He'd been exhausted that day, ready to pass out on the spot, when he spotted her. She was at the assistant's desk, right in front of his father's office. She didn't notice him, his form rooted in place as he unabashedly stared at her. Papers were scattered in front of her, a pink scarf wrapped haphazardly around her neck. She answered the office phone quietly, a growing smile on her face as she jotted something down on a spare notepad as the person talked to her.

 _She was here._

He'd practically ran past her desk to reach his father, and hadn't even let him speak before claiming he wanted to start an internship at the office. Gabriel had been stunned, he knew that. He'd refused more than once to work with him. But if it meant getting to know her, getting to understand someone like her, he'd do it.

He couldn't really explain why he needed to know her so badly, just that he _needed_ to.

However, needing to know her and actually _doing_ so was harder than he expected. Adrien simply couldn't work up the nerve to get near her, he couldn't find a reason to do so. He didn't want her to think he was weird, or awkward, _which he totally was_. The only thing he could really manage around her was a smile, and a greeting.

It was embarrassing how much he coveted those simple 'hello's.

An entire year passed before anything changed. Things were getting really, _really_ bad with his father. Not that anyone seemed to notice, which he thought was rather strange. After all, it didn't take a genius to see just how many mistakes his father seemed to be making. The country was falling, his father was causing it, but no one but him seemed to notice. He knew his father had to understand what he was doing, and at one point he confronted him.

The only response he got was _'This is none of your business, son. I know what I'm doing, and if you question me I will fire you._ '

So he remained quiet, and waited for the public to see what he saw, to do something. But they never did. He didn't know what to do, what he could do. He had never faced his father head on, he had no idea how. What could he hope to accomplish?

A few nights later, in the midst of his hopeless acceptance, something changed. Street art appeared at a train station, and not just any street art—but _Anti-Gabriel_ street art.

Finally, someone was doing something.

He stared at that art all day, on a newly created blog he had immediately bookmarked. In the corner of the art, initials sat. the curving letters **LB**. For some reason, the letters looked familiar. Or more, the style of them?

It didn't click immediately, but when he'd seen Marinette again something just pulled at him. At lunch that day, he pulled up pictures of her wall project and everything began to make sense. The swirling in the letters, the style to them he'd admired. They were the _same_.

The desire to speak to her increased tenfold, nervousness be damned.

But then life decided to get in his way. He was simply too busy with the office and his schoolwork to get even a _moment_ with her. When he was free, she was the one who was swamped with work. He was becoming more and more frustrated by his inability to just meet with her. When the opportunity arose at lunch one day, the both of them eating at the same time, he jumped on it.

He didn't immediately confront her, though. He wasn't completely sure if she was the street artist, how could he be? Sure, the letters were the same but surely another person could have the same handwriting?

Besides, he had no time to confront her. He was too busy watching her movements, listening to her voice. He had to truly force himself to focus because despite the possibility that she was the street artist out to get his father, he had waited for a chance to talk to her for what felt like forever. Had a foolish schoolboy crush on her for even longer.

It didn't help that she was much, _much_ cuter up close.

He was so excited to be speaking with her that nothing could sour his mood; not even the unannounced meeting his father called for. The meeting itself was confusing, it was live, and about a billboard? He didn't understand the reason why a billboard would require a meeting in the first place, or why it needed to be _live_. All he wanted was to talk to Marinette again, and had tried immediately after the very confusing meeting finished.

But she'd practically ran out the door, and he couldn't even hide his disappointment.

The next day, while he waited for his father to show up for a private meeting with him; he'd begun to snoop. Moving the files sitting on his desk out of boredom and reading them as he went. His father had never cared when he'd done so in the past, even encouraged it. He claimed it would help to know what his future held, and that included mindless paperwork.

When he stumbled upon a receipt for video cameras, and an email attached to it claiming they were installed, everything began to make sense. Ladybug was targeting his father, if she saw the billboard, _she'd target the billboard_. His father had held a live meeting about the billboard because he wanted her to see.

 **Because he wanted to catch her.**

He couldn't let Marinette—if it was Marinette—get caught. And even if it wasn't her, he didn't want anything bad to happen to Ladybug. They had stood up to his father, they were pointing out the truth of what he was up to. They were doing the right thing.

As should he.

Determination filled him, and he set about rebelling against his father once more. He bought himself a black leather jacket, and a black bandanna. Black _everything_. He figured the dark colors would keep him safe, and the bandanna would keep his identity under wraps.

Light colors were Adrien; neutrals and blues with button up shirts and perfectly pressed dress pants. He always needed to look his best, always needed to put on a good face for his father.

Chat Noir, he decided, was dark, and free. Chat Noir didn't care if there was a rip in his pants, or spray paint on his shirt. Chat Noir was able to make his own choices, and above all; Chat Noir was able to do the right thing.

* * *

 **A/N: I always like to imagine that if 'Ladybug' didn't exist, or came in a bit later, Adrien would've fallen pretty hard for Marinette. Especially in this sort of situation, where he never rebelled when he was younger, I think she'd call to him. But that's me, I hope you're all enjoying!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** **Warning, some slight foreplay earlier in the chapter, unsure if the warning is necessary but just in case?**

* * *

 **Chapter Ten: Upping The Ante**

* * *

Marinette thought that the tension between Adrien and her would lessen as their relationship grew. The urge to jump him, pin him to the ground, and have her way with him would cease; or at least not be so very intense.

But no, her urges were only getting stronger. Much, _much_ stronger. He'd smile at one of her comments, and she'd have to resist the urge to kiss him. He'd brush against her, and she'd have to stop herself from wrapping around him. She'd never felt such a crazy want for someone before, it was almost unnerving. She'd be more embarrassed or concerned about it if it wasn't for the fact that he was just as bad as her.

It had been three weeks since the night they'd gotten together, and Adrien was becoming more and more creative by the day. One afternoon, in the middle of a conversation, he suddenly got _that look_ on his face; one she was becoming very familiar with. He'd stopped her mid-word to pull her into an empty meeting room. She'd laughed at his urgent expression, only to be taken aback when her back met the wall and his lips found hers. Another day, one where he'd been exceedingly good at not attacking her at work—he grew impatient on their way to his place. An alley way two streets down from his apartment became their temporary refuge as he pulled her up, her legs wrapping around his waist as her tongue clashed against his.

She knew he didn't mean to lose his focus anymore than she did—and she was very guilty of doing so, she'd pushed _him_ against a wall a time or two in the past few weeks— they just couldn't seem to help it. She tried to focus, tried to be a responsible adult instead of playing the part of a horny teenager. But then he'd look at her a certain way, or say something in an octave just a step lower than normal, and then she'd be on him.

 _Just like now._

They had ventured to her place after work to get some of their studies underway before the weekend truly began. Nino and Alya had contacted them earlier that day, claiming they wanted ' _a night out together'_. So the two of them needed to play the waiting game before all four of them could have some fun. However, a study date turned into something completely different rather quickly.

It started with a heated glance from Adrien when Marinette leaned forward to grab a paper from the coffee table, and then escalated when her hand innocently found it's way to his inner thigh when she leaned against him. The tension exploded when she noted his hand shaking, holding back from grabbing her. Their eyes had met, understanding clear in them both.

That was all it took.

There were never any tentative touches when they broke down so quickly, and this time was no exception. His lips ventured from her lips to her neck and latched onto her pulse. Her hands made quick work of his button down shirt, as she searched for skin on skin contact. He'd once joked he might as well go around shirtless with how often she took him out of his; _she wouldn't be opposed._

Her fingers trailed up his back and he shifted, and then suddenly her back met the couch cushions below as he crawled over her. Her thighs spread almost instinctively as he lowered, his hips meeting hers as they joined lips.

The tentative kisses and uncertain movements from their first week was gone completely now, as they knew exactly how and where to angle themselves to bring out a gasp, or a moan, or Marinette's favorite—a _curse_. It was almost a competition to see who could get the other to fall apart first, and it seemed today he was winning. The hand not occupied with holding him above her was venturing under the rim of her pants. She didn't stop him, didn't even hesitate as she arched into his touch—encouraging him to go further.

His fingers found their way into her panties and she felt him pressing against her, just the way she needed it. She gasped, breaking the kiss as her hand grabbed his arm; gripping it tightly to keep him right where she wanted him.

Not to be deterred, his lips made their way back down her neck to her shoulders, pushing the shirt collar out of the way the best he could with his nose. His adventurous fingers started a rhythm, his thumb against her sweetest spot as his pointer entered her slowly. With every rub came a tiny thrust, and with every movement of his hand against her came her breathy response. She was putty in his hands as he worked her, and by the grin she felt against her shoulder, he was enjoying it _immensely_.

They'd yet to take the final step in their budding relationship, foreplay and heavy petting being the most intimate thing they'd gotten around to. Something was always holding them back, whether it be work, or friends, or even themselves; they just couldn't seem to make that tiny leap.

 _'But maybe'_ , she thought as a second finger joined the first, gasping at the added sensation. _'Maybe we're getting somewhere'._

"Mari," He mumbled between kisses to her chest, trying valiantly to get under her shirt and failing to do so.

"Adri-" she tried to respond but was cut off by her own moan when his fingers buried themselves deep within her once more. She could feel the end coming, could almost taste the release she knew was upon her. All she needed was a little _more_ and—

"Listen," came a very familiar, _very_ unwelcome voice. "You're both very attractive and all, but I _really_ don't need to see any of this."

Like a bucket of cold water, Alya's voice ruined any momentum they had gathered. His head slumped against her chest as she tried to gather her wits while his fingers still rested inside of her. She found herself leaning up, ignoring the pressure it caused within as she glared at her longtime friend. They had been getting somewhere, and Alya just _had_ to ruin it.

Never mind that they were on the couch, she could have just turned around and waited. Marinette would've done so if it had been Nino.

Alya just ignored her glare, crossing her arms and quirking an eyebrow at her expression. Then, she shook her head and spoke.

"You're lucky Nino opted to wait outside, something about ' _not wanting to risk anything._ '" she snorted. "Now I see why."

Adrien pulled his fingers out of her, the sound unmistakable to anyone within the room. Marinette blushed, Adrien looked away, and Alya just stood there looking far too amused. He stood from the couch and began the search for his shirt—Marinette had quite the arm when she threw them away. Marinette didn't miss the up and down Alya gave him, or the playful glint in her eyes.

"Nice chest Adrien." she said casually, "Work out?"

His face bled red, but he didn't say a thing. Instead, he found the shirt that had somehow made it's way under the kitchen table and began pulling it on. Alya bit her lip, obviously holding back laughter and looking in his direction Marinette could see the reason why. When he'd stretched, he'd shown just _affected_ he'd been from their little session, and of course Alya had to be _such_ an adult about it.

Marinette couldn't take it anymore.

"Wait outside, Alya." Marinette commanded, trying to sound authoritative, adding in a stern glare for good measure. Alya turned her gaze back to her, her wide smile an unwelcome sight considering her reason.

The stare down between lasted for a long moment, until finally Alya backed off.

"Fine." she said, reaching into her pocket for her phone. "But don't you two take too long. I want to get to the bar before dinner rush gets too crazy, you know how the weekends are."

She headed towards the door and only stopped to look over her shoulder.

"Oh, and. ' _too long_ ', means you don't have time for a quickie." she said smugly. "Find a way to take care of that before Nino sees, Adrien. Or else you'll be a castrated _kitty._ "

Adrien stumbled mid-step at her words, and Marinette frowned at his nervousness. It had obviously been a joke? Why was he so affected by it?

"Yeah, Okay." he said quickly, and she felt the strangeness there. No jokes, no quips? Sure, he'd get flustered sometimes, but he was generally an unashamed person when it came to their relationship.

She brushed it off when Alya walked out the door, and he gave her an innocent look. It was probably nothing, she was just being a bit oversensitive.

As his lips met hers in a brief kiss, she worked hard at assuring herself of that.

* * *

Nearly an hour later, they'd made it to the bar and her and Alya secured seats while the boys went to grab drinks. They settled in, relaxing quietly for a moment before Alya finally couldn't handle it anymore.

"The two of you are getting ridiculous," she spoke, her voice just loud enough to where Marinette could make it out above the music. Marinette frowned and leaned forward, trying to keep their conversation private.

" _No_ we aren't." she responded, immediately defensive. "You act as though you and Nino weren't all over each other when you first started out."

Alya laughed, shaking her head as if she'd said something completely foolish.

"Yeah," she started, "But you aren't me. And Adrien isn't Nino. I get off to public sex, if you recall my list of ' _places I want to do it in_ '." she paused, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Although now I guess it should be called ' _places I still haven't done it in_ ', considering Nino and I have-"

"Okay!" Marinette exclaimed, blushing scarlet. "Adrien and I are just-"

"Going through some extreme sexual tension because you haven't actually screwed yet," Alya quipped, glancing over at where their boys were standing. "I know."

Once again, she looked Adrien up and down before turning back to her. Marinette wondered if she should feel territorial, or possessive, or something of the like. Shouldn't Alya not check her boyfriend out? Was that even the right term? What were they, exactly? They'd never said.

Putting that question aside, she came back to the subject at hand. She wasn't jealous, she knew, because there was no interest in her friend's eyes, just a vague curiosity.

"I don't understand the problem though, Mari." Alya explained. "That boy is _stacked_. Far too blond for me, and definitely too vanilla; But for you?" she shrugged. "He's perfect. So what's the deal?"

To be honest, she wasn't really sure. She knew it was more than just her friends or her work holding her back, something emotionally was keeping her from taking it a step further. She really, _really_ liked Adrien. She wanted something with him. What that something was, however, she wasn't sure.

The main issue, she thought, was her _'secret_ '. Ladybug was a large, important part of her life. It was something that could possibly get her jailed, or his father jailed for that matter. How was she supposed to tell him that she was Ladybug?

 _'Oh, yeah, by the way I've been trying to imprison your father for the past few months, hope you don't mind?_ '

Somehow she thought that wouldn't go well, even if he did supposedly support Ladybug's actions.

"I'm, well, y'know." Marinette explained vaguely. Her hard look enough to make Alya understand. _Ladybug._

Alya was not impressed.

"Yeah, but we've covered that. You can only use that as an excuse for so long, Mari." she rolled her eyes, glancing at the boys one more time as they _finally_ were able to put in their orders. "Don't think I don't notice you not coming home at night, either. You may not be having sex, but you certainly aren't sleeping alone. What does that say to you?"

"That I'm taking this seriously," Marinette responded instantly, before hesitating with her next thought. She hadn't spoken the words out loud yet, not even to herself. But they were beginning to feel true, right. "I think that I'm falling for him."

Alya sputtered, the comment she'd been saving dying instantly. She stared, open-mouthed at her longtime friend while Marinette tried to focus on anything else.

Like the boys walking over to them.

"Wait, what?" Alya practically screamed,begging for more intel.

" _Not now_ , Alya." Marinette said, putting on a large smile as the boys reached them. Alya tried to bring back some semblance of calm, but she couldn't help watching her friend's interactions like a hawk. Not with the information her friend had just dropped on her.

She watched Adrien sit down and not even hesitate to enter Marinette's space. She watched as he slid her drink in front of her, eyes focused in on the girl. Alya resisted the urge to comment when Adrien moved in, kissing Marinette softly; As if her _best friends_ weren't directly across from him. Then followed his movements as he moved back, wrapping a free arm around the girl's shoulders and picking up his own glass. Picking up a conversation with Nino as if nothing had happened.

Normally, this would be the point where Alya would tease them. She'd claim that they were being lovey-dovey, or grossly adorable, or something of the like. But now, all she could do is stare, thinking of Marinette's words.

Wondering if adrien felt the same way, wondering if she should be worried.

She found herself glaring at him, at his comfortable body language while Marinette must be struggling with some very strong feelings. Her friend had never been in love before, how long had she been thinking about it? He didn't know any of that, of course, but she did. And she needed to get a point across.

"You treat her right Agreste, understand?" She spoke suddenly, causing Adrien to turn his focus to her. Nino coughed beside her, obviously not expecting the sudden outburst. Marinette glared at her, trying to stop her from saying anything too revealing.

Adrien just met her gaze head on, a serious expression on his face.

"I will," he replied simply, waiting for her response.

Marinette watched nervously as the two stared each other down, confused as to what exactly brought all of this on, when Alya finally relaxed, nodding her head as if satisfied.

"You better."

They both went back to drinking and talking as if there _hadn't_ just been a random confrontation, Marinette watching them both like they'd lost their minds. After a few minutes, when it became obvious neither one of them were going to further explain anything, she resigned herself to letting it go.

She probably didn't want to know.

* * *

The next day, things were going as usual. Try to think of a plan, fail to do so, ignore the fact she couldn't. Then, of course, spend time with Adrien. Her group was getting restless with the lack of activity, and so was Chat. She'd spoken with him a few times over the phone, and he'd been strangely impatient during their conversations. Almost as if he was uncomfortable talking to her. She wondered if her actions from that night truly caused such a change, and hoped it wasn't true. She'd hate to ruin their partnership with her foolishness.

It had barely been five minutes from the start of her lunch when Alya called, exclaiming loudly into her ear that Juleka had an _'amazing'_ idea, and that she was on her way to discuss it. Then she'd hung up without even waiting for a response.

Alya was on her way. _To her job_.

"What's wrong?" Adrien asked, noting the confusion on her face. They had just sat down at their table before the call came, he hadn't even taken out his lunch. He reached across the table to place his hand over hers, a concerned look crossing his face. She gave him a small smile, hoping that would ease his worry.

"Alya's on her way," Marinette spoke, continuing before Adrien could speak. "I'm not sure why. She said it was important, though."

If you could call a new plan to take down the leading power of France _important_ , that is.

"Oh," Adrien said, brow furrowing as he thought. "I'm guessing she'll want to talk to you alone then, if it's important?"

She nodded. They couldn't exactly make a plan with Adrien here.

"How long do you think it'll be?" he asked.

"Probably not too long," she answered, shrugging. "Maybe the rest of lunch?"

The pout Adrien wore was enough to show her that, to him, that was _too long_.

"Unfair," he spoke, releasing her hand to lean back against his chair. "Lunch is _our_ time."

She giggled at his dramatic tone, and stood from her spot. She walked behind him and he looked up to her, the pout still going strong.

"Poor baby," she cooed, running a hand through his hair before tapping his nose. "Can't survive thirty minutes without me?"

He kissed he finger, before reaching up to tangle their hands together.

"What can I say," he said, grinning, "I'm _needy_."

They stood like that for a moment, her front resting against the back of his chair while he kept their hands by his chest. Then, he spoke.

"Will you come over later today?"

It was funny how common that question was becoming. Even funnier how quickly she had become comfortable with answering the question. She wanted to say _yes_ , the word was on the tip of her tongue.

But if Alya had a plan, then that meant there would need to be a meeting. Then there would be preparations, and outlining, and so much more would need to be done. Things that he couldn't be there for.

 _'Unless you tell him'_ she thought to herself, not for the first time. _'If you want this relationship to work he_ _ **needs**_ _to know.'_

For some reason though, even knowing that he should know; she just couldn't tell him. The fear that he'd leave her was simply too strong, the thought that he'd take the news badly too much for her. She didn't want to risk that, not for anything.

Still, there was another thought, one that scared her just as much.

 _'If he finds out too late, he'll leave you anyways.'_

She shoved the negative thoughts aside, knowing she'd need to confront them eventually but not wanting to deal with them at the moment. She focused instead on his pleading expression, on his thumb brushing over hers.

"I'm not sure," she answered finally, giving him a sad smile, "When Alya gets excited like this, it's usually an all day thing. She'll probably demand I come home immediately after work."

"Then I'll come over," he responded instantly. "Later tonight, when she's finished. I'll stay with you." he hesitated, looking as though he said something he shouldn't have. "If you want, that is."

He said it as though she _didn't_ want to spend the night with him, the silly boy. She resisted the urge to hug him, to say _'Of course'_. She had to be realistic, the meeting could last well into the night.

"No promises," she said. "If it gets late I would hate to wake you up."

He frowned at that, pulling on her hand to signal he wanted her to lean down. She did so without a thought, angling her head to meet the kiss she knew he wanted.

"I don't mind," he spoke, "If I get to spend time with you, I don't mind."

"You're adorable," she giggled, brushing her forehead against his, unable to hide her goofy grin. She didn't know what she'd done to deserve someone so gloriously _sappy_. He smiled up at her and she couldn't resist leaning back down to kiss him again, this one lingering.

"I swear I'm going to get a spray bottle and carry it around with me." came Alya's voice, directly behind them. "You two need to just get it over with already."

They broke apart, Adrien sighing at the interruption and Marinette resisting the urge to laugh at his irritated expression. He glanced over at Alya, meeting her unimpressed gaze with one of his own.

"This isn't going to become a habit of yours, is it?" he asked casually.

Alya rolled her eyes.

"It wouldn't need to become a habit if either of you would pay attention to your surroundings." she joked. "In public, Mari?"

Marinette had the sense of mind to blush, at least. Even if she admitted to herself she _hated_ the constant interruption.

"Anyways," Alya continued, reaching over to pull Marinette to her side. "I need to take her for a while. Girl talk, you know."

"Yeah, that's what she said earlier." he replied.

A moment of understanding passed between them, one that Marinette missed.

"So you understand, then? Don't worry, she'll call you later. Girl won't be able to help herself." she teased.

"Alya," Marinette hissed, but Alya only laughed at her anger.

"What, it's true!" Alya exclaimed, before smiling at him. "See you later, Adrien."

"Bye Alya," he replied, before winking at Marinette. "Call me."

Marinette bled bright red while Alya pulled her away. They'd walked barely out of earshot when Alya began speaking again.

"So you ready for this?" she asked. Marinette nodded, waiting for her to continue. Alya looked around the area, before her eyes darted back to her.

"I need to know where Gabriel's office is. Well, where the window is, at least."

Marinette hesitated, concerned. _They couldn't possibly_...

"Why's that important to this plan?" she asked, concern only increasing at Alya's grin.

"You'll see, just show me."

Marinette did so rather unwillingly, pointing to the top left set of windows on the main building, on the opposite side of the courtyard. Alya began to head that way, looking back and forth between the ground, then the window as she did so. She came to a stop after a moment, examining the long stretch of concrete that made up one side of the courtyard before nodding, pleased.

"Yes, good. This is perfect." she began, "It's big enough, and with the location escape routes are simple."

 _Oh, no._

"Wait." Marinette said, "You're not seriously planning on hitting my _job_ , are you?" she asked.

"And why not?" Alya asked, not seeing her reason for concern. "It's big, it's attention grabbing, and Gabriel will definitely have to see it!"

 _'Not that grin!'_ Marinette thought, absentmindedly backing up to distance herself from her overly excited friend. That grin had been the cause of many of her scars back from their youth.

"Yeah, sure." Marinette answered sarcastically, "Minus the _night guards_ , the _late workers_ , and the fact that he's going to be so angry he'll _explode_. Yeah, this is _perfect_."

"He's pissed already, Mari." Alya responded, reaching for her hand and meeting her eyes. "We can do this, I know we can. We can get the whole team out here, and this place will be ours."

"Last time we brought the team out, you almost—" Alya cut her off before she could finish her sentence.

"Occupational hazard." she said quickly. "Juleka was right, this is an amazing spot to really step up our game. We can do this."

There were some fights Marinette knew she could win, and others she knew she wouldn't when it came to her excited friend. This was one of the losing fights, she'd just have to put her faith in her.

"Fine, but I'm going to be the over prepared one for this." Marinette's tone left no room for argument. "I'll stay late, learn the guard rotation, try to see about what day and time would be best for this."

"That's fine." Alya agreed, "I'll get everyone together then. Ivan should be healed up by now, I'm sure he'll come if we call."

"Nothing extreme for the design, either." Marinette glanced around them, noting how many tables were in their way, what sources would be available to them. "This is risky, it's going to have to be simple. Like the last big one."

"Risky is the only way you like it, don't even pretend otherwise." Alya laughed, "I guess you need to tell Chat, then?"

"Guess I do." Marinette responded, already making plans to do so for when she returned home.

* * *

That night, after hours of planning with the team and designing ideas, Marinette finally found a free moment. She went to her room for the disposable phone, figuring it would be easier than hooking up her earpiece this late at night. She heard the sounds of her friends leaving as she began the call, sitting down at the foot of her bed as she waited.

 _"Evening Bugaboo,"_ came his voice, loud and clear. She'd expected him to sound as he usually did when she called late, barely awake. It was after one, what was he doing up?

"Same to you, Chat." she responded, resisting the urge to ask him what he'd been doing. It wasn't her business. "We've got a hit."

 _"I love the sound of that,"_ he spoke, pleased. _"What is it?"_

"Gabriel's workplace, the courtyard behind it" she began, "His window overlooks the courtyard, we just want to give him something to stare at."

Silence followed her words, and for a moment she wondered if she'd lost connection.

"Chat?" she asked, "Are you there?"

She heard the sound of him shifting in the background, before he finally spoke.

 _"That's...incredibly dangerous."_ he hesitated, _"Are you sure you want to take that one on?"_

 _No_ , she wasn't. But the team wanted it, and she wasn't about to argue with them. Not after she'd made them take similar risks for her ideas.

"The team wants this. We know the risks that come with it, but we need to do something before we lose our traction."

A moment passed, then a sigh.

"Do you not want to join in on this? Sit this one out? We'd understand-"

 _"You've gotta be_ _ **kitten**_ _me, my lady. I'm not leaving you to do something this risky alone. Especially when it's this close to the man himself."_ he paused, taking in a deep breath. _"Just make sure that we're really ready for this, please."_

He was concerned, not scared. Probably worried about her team, they weren't as quick as him or her. And after last time a bit of concern was justified.

It was kind of sweet.

"Don't worry, kitty. We won't run into this blindly."

 _"Of course,"_ he said. _"Keep me updated, then."_

"I will," she answered, "Goodnight, Chat."

 _"Nighty-night, Bug."_

She hung up, turned the phone off, and put it away. She sighed, shifting to lay back against the bed, and stared at the ceiling. He was worried, she was worried, and yet they were doing it anyway. Must be part of the whole 'upping the risks' thing. For a moment, she wanted to call Adrien, to ask him if he still wanted to come over. She didn't want to be alone with her worries, but she wasn't going to wake him up with her silly problems.

The sound of her phone chiming on her beside table got her attention, and she leaned over to grab it.

A text from Adrien.

 _ **'Do you still want me to come over?'**_ it said.

He was awake. Awake and willing to come over. She couldn't believe her luck.

 _ **'If you want to.'**_ she typed back, _ **'I know it's late'.**_

He texted back within seconds.

 _ **'Be there in fifteen.'**_

She smiled and typed her reply.

 _ **'See you soon.'**_

It wouldn't be a lonely night after all.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you for reading as per usual! If you like this story, I'm also working on another called 'A Gift or A Curse'. It's a bit darker, but still the same general style so let me know what you think! I'll be updating that more as I get closer to finishing this one, as this is my focus. It's about to get real, no more fluffy fill chapters. At least for a chapter.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven: Into the Fire**

* * *

It had been nearly a week of planning for the hit on her job, and Marinette was only becoming more nervous as the days passed. It had been a week of her 'staying late', making excuses to Adrien that she had a larger work load than normal. A week of guard watching, creeping through hallways, of trying her hardest to seem as inconspicuous as possible. All of her sneaking was draining her, and the tension within her was finding its way into her 'normal' life. Specifically with a certain blond boy she cared for.

They hadn't had a singular night alone since the night he'd came over. Between school, and work, and then her _other_ work it simply wasn't possible to make time for them. Even their lunch hour was being regularly interrupted by her plans. She could tell the distance was bothering him, from the set of his shoulders to the way he looked at her whenever they met. Their conversations were becoming shorter, she could feel him backing away more and more.

It was killing her, knowing that her actions as Ladybug could possibly spell the end of their relationship. But she wouldn't back out, her country was far more important than her affections. She could only hope that she could fix everything once this hit was finished.

 _'Well'_ she thought, adjusting her bag to a more comfortable position. _'We'll find out after tonight.'_

Marinette counted backwards from ten as she waited for the guard shift to switch. Her, Alix, and Alya were partnered for this mission. Alix would break away from them once they'd reached position, and then Alya and her would meet up with the other 'artists' at the spot she'd marked hours before. Chat had Juleka and Nathanaël alongside him, though they were on the opposite side of the building. They'd decided going together was far too attention grabbing, and so they'd have to take advantage of the four entryways to the courtyard.

She'd been surprised when Chat hadn't even put up a fight when it came to separating the teams. He'd hardly spoken a word to her the entire time, merely nodding at her suggestions and speaking only when spoken to. No puns, no jokes. She'd tried to meet his eyes at one point, in between handing out spray cans and testing ear pieces — but he'd avoided her gaze.

She thought they'd gotten past the awkward moment from weeks ago, but apparently her actions were still haunting them. She could only hope his discomfort with her wouldn't result in any fumbles job wise. They'd need to be as coordinated as possible for this to work.

 _"Guards are officially out, Team A is in position."_ came Nino's voice, interrupting her thoughts. Kim, Ivan, and him were on a team, though they wouldn't be painting. The three of them would separate to watch over all the far left entrances; the busiest of the areas and the most likely places to be breached. If everything was going as planned, Chat would be passing by Nino with his team and heading to the main area. They'd paint half of the courtyard, and her team would paint the other. In and out, a very quick, hopefully easy job. She just needed to wait for her signal.

 _"Guards on the east side are officially out. Estimated ten minutes for full rotation,"_ Rose's voice called. _"Ladybug, now's your time."_

Rose and Max were guarding the only entrance on the east side, though Rose would be replaced by Alix once they passed.

"Comin' your way, Princess." Marinette spoke, nodding to her companions before creeping forward. They'd been hiding as close to the buildings dumpster as they possibly could, the only place that cameras wouldn't be a problem at before they reached the east entryway.

Not that cameras would be a problem anyways, she'd had Max take care of that the night before. A little tampering here and there, and all security would see would be last night's footage. But it was never bad to have some extra security.

 _Just in case._

They reached the walkway quickly, meeting up with Rose and Max on the way. Rose and Alix switched with little fuss, and the two exchanged quick smiles before they continued on.

As they reached the courtyard, Marinette could feel the nausea she'd been fighting down come back full force. This was happening, this was _dangerous_. Far more dangerous than anything she'd done— and she'd once _dangled from a bridge_.

She forced down her fear and dropped her bag, her gaze drawn to the other side of the courtyard. Where Chat was doing the exact same thing as her.

"Ready Chat?" she said, knowing her ear piece would catch the sound. She had to hold back a laugh at how he almost jumped at her voice, his eyes meeting hers for the first time all night. They held each others gazes for only a moment, but his easy expression comforted her. It felt as if something shifted back into place for her.

 _"Of Course."_ he responded, his voice crystal clear and far more welcome then the silence she'd been enduring. She smiled, though she knew he couldn't see it, and pulled out a can of spray paint. She shook the can and turned away from him, feeling more at ease with the job then she had in a long while.

She had her partner with her, that's all she needed.

"Let's begin."

Her job, along with Nathanaëls, was the hardest of the group. They needed to make large cracks in the ground, or at least, the appearance of them. She'd done so for her bridge project, but this was different, she'd done it alone— and _without_ a minimal time limit.

Meanwhile, in the center of their space, the rest of her team was starting to line up their pre-made stencils, working along lines she'd cleverly placed during her free time. Alya was busy setting up the giant _Ladybug_ and _Chat Noir_ symbols at the bottom of their project, her job would be taking care of those for the night.

 _"Paint quickly,"_ Nino spoke, sounding just a touch out of breath. _"These guys are quicker than I thought. I thought you said these guards were the laziest of the bunch, Bug?"_

"They are," Marinette said between paint strokes. "One's short, red haired. Heavy-set." she described. She moved onto another cracked with a singular shift of movement. "Another should be darker skinned, middle aged?"

She glanced up to see Nathanaël halfway finished with his work, just slightly behind her own progress. Rose was almost finished with her letters, and Chat was already done. Having Juleka with him had made their half easier. He was cleaning up his stencils and shoving them away, while Juleka made her way over to Rose to help her.

 _"Yeah, no."_ Nino said, _"Those aren't the guys."_

Marinette paused mid-spray, eyebrows furrowing as she focused on her ear piece.

"That can't be right. They always work Tuesdays."

She'd noticed that even before her 'late' nights. The guards were well known for being kind, they worked Tuesday because it was the easiest shift. It was why she'd chosen tonight, because it was safe. It was simple.

Maybe that was the problem. It was _too simple, too easy._

 _"Well not this Tuesday. These guys are_ _ **built.**_ _"_ he muttered, _"I'm gonna try to get closer, get a better look."_

"Bubbler, no." she said, a sinking feeling settling into her gut. She shared a concerned glance with Alya and tried to will her hands to work. She needed to spray, she needed to _finish._

"Don't be stupid." Chat hissed at him, and she knew that if Chat was worried, she wasn't crazy.

Something was wrong here.

 _"This is too suspicious, guys."_ Nino explained, _"Someone's gotta...wait."_

The team in the courtyard couldn't help their shared uneasy glances, even as they continued with their work. Marinette rushed to finish her cracks, Alya was pulling away the stencils for the symbols. Juleka was doing her best to help rush Rose along.

 _"Guys, this is bad. They've got ear pieces, and unless they're_ _ **very**_ _happy about patrolling, I'm pretty sure they're packing."_ Nino explained, and for a moment the rustling of what had to be a tree or a bush of some sort took over the mic. _"Timebreaker, what's your situation?"_

No response.

"Timebreaker?" Marinette called after a moment, her heart beat increasing as she focused in on her silent ear piece. Alix wasn't one to speak over the line unless she had something to say, but they should have _known_ something was off.

If something was off, she couldn't assume. Maybe her earpiece was just malfunctioning?

"Gamer?" she called, instead. Max was with her, surely he'd—

Nothing. Not a singular sound.

 _"Hun?"_ came Kim's voice, panicked. _"Answer us, please."_

Still nothing.

 _"Cupid no! Stay in position!"_ Nino called, cursing.

Marinette could feel everything unraveling, one of their main members was out of position, and two of the others weren't responding.

They were in trouble.

"Finish, now." she spoke, meeting her partner's eyes. She tried not to let her fear show on her face even as her hands trembled with each stroke. She finished one more crack and gave up, standing to her feet and throwing everything she had into her bag. Her work was not finished, but it would have to do. She heard the sound of heavy footsteps behind her and tensed, but her partner's voice calmed her.

"We need to go." he said.

"I know." she responded, turning back to face him as she adjusted her strap. She watched as he pulled the pipe she'd seen strapped to his back into his hands, the grip tightening as he gestured for his team to move out. She'd thought it silly when he had mentioned it's possible usefulness before, after all— a pipe?

Now, she wished she had something. She didn't feel safe. Her agility couldn't solve everything.

She pulled out the only thing she really had, her climbing rope. She wrapped the rope around one of the full spray paint bottles she had. She swung it around her once, then twice, and when it didn't go flying off she had hope that it would at least do something for her. Probably not much, but maybe it would help keep people away from her.

She'd invest in an actual weapon after tonight.

 _"Shit, Bug, they know. We're in trouble!"_ Nino suddenly called. _"You need to go!"_

"We're finished," Alya called, coming to stand beside her. "Which way are we going?"

"East." Marinette answered, "We need to check on Timebreaker and Gamer."

"That's risky." Rose spoke, hesitant. She had never been much of a fighter, and on the front line less than any of the others. Marinette placed her hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

"We can't leave them behind. Just stick close to us, okay?"

Rose nodded, though she wouldn't meet her eyes. She hated putting her in this position, even if it came with the territory. Rose wasn't a fighter.

 _"Be safe, Bug."_ came Chat's voice over the earpiece. She'd looked back towards him to see his team retreating towards the opposite exit as originally planned. She could see the tension he held even from her position, and knew it was killing him to stick to the plan instead of staying by her. He hated risking her, she'd known that from the beginning.

"Same to you, Kitty." she responded.

To be honest, she hated it too.

Her team moved towards the east walkway as quickly and as silently as possible. She found it strange that everything was quiet, that no one was blocking their way. The feeling of this being far too easy was taking hold again. Where were the guards?

When they reached the meeting spot for Alix and Max, she felt herself beginning to break.

Because there they were, forms limp against the concrete. Red smears of blood on the pavement. Their missing team mates had never left position, they'd never had the chance to.

Rose rushed forward, dropping her bag and rolling Alix's body to face her. She looked over the woman, dried blood on her forehead, neck a burning red. And the worst of it all, a wound at her side, blood lazily flowing from it. A gunshot. Marinette could only watch as Rose placed her fingers on the girl's pulse. She glanced up at her and spoke.

"She's alive, but her pulse is slow."

"What do you think happened?" Alya asked, kneeling beside Max.

Rose shook her head and lifted Alix's head slightly, trying to find the source of the redness without jostling her.. She found the answer on the back of her neck, a burn mark.

"They've got tasers." Rose responded, gesturing for Alya to check Max. as Alya checked on the boy, Rose began to do what she could, lifting up Alix's shirt to locate her wound. She did what she could to clean up the mess, taking a cleaning pad from her bag and sweeping it gently against her.

"It looks like the bullet went through, and I should be able to stop the flow but..." Rose didn't need to speak her thoughts, it was obvious. Alix was on a time limit, a life or death time limit at that. They needed to get her to safety as quickly as possible.

"No gunshots on Max, just a bump on the head and the taser mark. It came from super close if the burn mark is anything to go by."

"Alix fought back, Max was taken out first" Marinette whispered, in shock. "That's why Alix was shot and he wasn't."

She was confused. Gabriel wanted them captured, not killed. He'd said so countless times during their 'meetings'. So why allow guns? Why allow the risk of any of them getting killed if he wanted them caught?

Maybe he didn't care anymore. Maybe he just wanted them _gone._

She heard something shift above her, and she froze. She glanced up quickly, trying to seem as if she hadn't heard a thing. In the trees above her, she saw it. The form of a person, poised to jump.

They knew, and they had been waiting. They'd used Alix and Max as bait instead of taking them for a reason. It was an ambush— _a trap._

And they'd fallen right into it.

"You need to take Alix and go" Marinette whispered, knowing her voice was projecting into the ear piece. "Leave Max and go, both of you."

The two of them looked at her, obviously confused. But she shook her head.

"Don't say anything, just go." she continued.

Rose and Alya exchanged glances before they gave in. Rose grabbed boosted Alix up, Alya coming to help, and the two of them began to walk away. She knew the man in the trees wouldn't like that, after all, he was probably supposed to catch all of them. Or kill them.

Just as she thought, her team's retreat forced the man in the tree to act, and she'd barely been able to dodge him when he fell. If she hadn't noticed, he would've knocked her out, and this would all be over. She felt her legs sting beneath her jeans, her quick movement had caused her to skid against the concrete. She ignored the pain and jumped to her feet, keeping her eyes on her attacker. The man who was still glancing at her friend's retreating forms.

"Hi, I'm Ladybug." she spoke, trying to grab his attention. "You may have heard of me."

That did the trick, his attention was fully on her now. His lips curling into a smirk. She knew this was going to be difficult, he was large and quick. And of course, there was the also the fact that he had a gun _and_ a taser whereas she had nothing.

Except her rope, that is. About as useful as a _yo-yo_.

He fell into a fighting stance, and she readied her modded rope, hoping it would work. He ran towards her, his taser ready in hand. She moved quickly, spinning her rope towards him but missing. She jumped back, but wasn't quite as lucky when it came to avoiding the taser. She felt the sting of the electric shock against her leg, hissing in pain even as she continued on.

From the corner of her eye she saw Max awaken, gripping his head in pain as he struggled to focus. She wanted to call out to him, tell him to run, but her attacker stopped her before she could.

He jumped towards her, fist slamming through the air. She ducked past the movement, and ran as far as she could to his left. She swung the rope as hard as she could, and it hit it's mark this time. Right on the side of his head.

He hissed, dropping the taser. She took her moment and rushed forward, grabbing it quickly and kicking at his shin while she did so. She rolled to dodge his grab for her. The pain of the concrete was nothing in comparison to her satisfaction. _One weapon down._

She turned to max and threw the taser his way, knowing he was going to need something. He was staring at her, blinking rapidly, trying to gather his wits.

"Get out of here, Max." she commanded. "Hurry, take that and go. Protect yourself and meet up with the team."

He stumbled to his feet, grabbing the taser.

"Y-you g-onna be ok-ay?" he asked, stumbling over his words.

"I'll be fine, now go." she said firmly.

She watched him leave, knowing the only reason why he hadn't disagreed was because his head was probably still scrambled from his fall. She followed his movements until he was out of sight, needing to know that he'd be safe. But she'd forgotten about the man behind her.

That proved to be a major mistake.

She didn't even see the first fist fly, only felt the excruciating pain as it connected with her gut. She gasped, dropping her rope as she doubled over. She was so focused on the pain that she didn't catch a familiar form slinking through the shadows. She saw the second hit coming, and tried to put her hands up to catch it, but his fist connected anyways, this time directly against her chest.

She felt her vision haze as she fell back onto the pavement. Her breath came out in pained pants, each pull of air was fire in her lungs. She felt the man settle above her, and she tried to focus around her. She needed something, anything, to get her out of this.

Out of the darkness came Chat, a snarl wrenching from his throat as he swung the pipe towards the man, however he moved out of the way just in time. Chat swung again, absolute fury behind every movement, but the man didn't even seem to care. He just kept swerving out of the way.

She tried to catch her breath, tried to force herself to move, but it was hard. Everything ached, all she wanted to do was stay still. Her eyes followed the battle as she forced herself to her knees, watching as Chat took a bad hit to the knee, before he returned with a hit of his own. Her face washed white, however, when she saw another of Gabriel's men coming from the courtyard. What he had in hand wasn't a taser, though.

It was a gun, and it was aimed directly at Chat.

She didn't even truly think of her actions, all she knew was that one moment she was on the ground, barely able to move. The next, she had her rope again and she was running non stop towards their new enemy. She felt the sting of a bullet passing by her shoulder, but she didn't stop. She was too far gone, too set on getting to him.

 _How dare he try to hurt her partner._

She swung and hit the man directly in the chest, forcing him to stumble back. She pulled the rope back to her quickly and gripped the spray can tightly, jumping on top of him and forcing him to the ground. She turned the can toward his face and didn't even hesitate to push down on the trigger.

She only really came back to herself when the man's screams pierced her ears, his hands coming up to grip at his face, rubbing at his eyes.

"You fucking bitch! Just you wait!" he called, tears falling as he tried to rid himself of the paint. She'd _sprayed_ him right in the eyes. She could see the red paint _all over him._

She wanted to feel bad, but this man was ready to kill Chat. He deserved this pain, didn't he?

Didn't he?

She heard Chat whimper and shifted to see him, still holding down the angry man as she did so. He was losing the fight against their attacker, his pipe had been thrown across the walkway. She could see the blood trailing down his lip, a darkness to his right eye.

She grabbed the man's dropped gun and stood, feeling the cold weight of it in her hands. She kicked the fallen man in the head as hard as she could, hoping it would be enough to keep him down. All she felt was numbness as she began to move towards Chat.

 _She would do what she must._

The man apparently thought his team mate had taken her out, because he didn't even glance her way. He was too busy focusing on Chat, on hitting him over and _over_. His back was facing her, all she needed to do was aim and pull. Aim and...

 **No** , she wouldn't kill him. Why was she even thinking of that? She was better than that.

Killing was a last resort.

She held the gun to the back of his head, knowing he'd immediately recognize the feeling of the barrel. The man paused mid punch, form freezing.

"I know," she rasped. "That you know I'll pull this trigger without blinking if you so much as take another step."

The man didn't move a muscle, but she could see his eyes shifting to try and see her. _Looking for an opening._

"I'm glad we understand each other." she began, not looking towards Chat no matter how much she wanted to. She couldn't afford to at the moment. "Now what you're going to do is allow my friend to take your gun, and then you're gonna leave."

"Are you stupid— " he tried to argue, but she just pushed the gun harder against him.

"You don't get to argue." she growled out, "You either say yes, or I **shoot** you. Your choice."

He didn't say anything, just grumbled angrily to himself.

"Well?" she fought off a wave of exhaustion, and felt relief when he nodded. His head brushing the barrel as he did so.

Chat reached forward and unholstered the gun from the man's belt. She heard more than saw him walk over to her side, his acquired gun coming to rest beside hers.

"You okay?" she asked, shuffling a little closer to him. She kept her gun steady against the man's head despite her movement. She wasn't risking him trying to get to either of them.

"I'll manage." Chat responded, before reaching forward with his free hand to shove the man. He wasn't expecting the sudden movement and stumbled forward.

"I think it's time for you to go, _don't you agree_?" Chat's voice was low and dangerous, and she could tell by glancing at his hand that he was just as serious as she was about firing.

The man turned quickly, trying to rush towards them, but Chat was too quick. He lowered his gun slightly and shot him in his hip, forcing the man to scream and fall.

"You're lucky I didn't kill you." he said, "Now gather yourself and go."

The emptiness in his tone was oddly familiar to her, but she wasn't sure where she'd heard it. Was it in the office? _It didn't matter._

The man limping away drew her attention, his right hand red with blood as he gripped his hip. She knew she couldn't let him get away, not without a message.

"Tell your boss he's gonna have to try harder than that." she called, lowering her gun. "We're not afraid of him."

The man barely paused to listen before continuing onward. The minute he was out of sight, she leaned fully against her partner, allowing herself to feel all of the aches and pains she'd gained throughout the night.

"What took you so long?" she whined, relaxing when Chat chuckled and wrapped his free arm around her shoulder.

"You gave me orders to protect my squad, my lady. You'd be surprised how many people I had to take out to get here." he responded.

"Are you hurt?" she asked, pulling away from him so she could get a better look. The black clothing hid any wounds he may have, but she knew he probably had them. She knew she was covered in them.

"I'll be alright. Mostly cuts, a few burn marks from the tasers." he replied nonchalantly, before pulling her wounded arm towards him. The movement made her hiss, she had _completely_ forgotten about that particular problem.

"I'm more worried about this." he continued, pulling at the broken leather so he could see it better. "That's gonna scar."

"It's fine. Just a graze." she tried to ignore the pulsing pain that flew through her every time he prodded at it. "I'll have Princess take a look at it when we get back."

"Good idea." he said, releasing her arm only for his fingers to trail down, gripping her hand. "Bugaboo, please don't run head first at someone like that again."

She tried to ignore his warm grasp, the way he looked at her as he held her hand in his. But her heart was beating _so_ _fast_ and it was _so familiar_ and when he looked at her like this he looked just like—

 _"Hey Bug! You there?!"_ Came Nino's voice, loud and clear over the ear piece. She blinked once, then twice. Realizing that somehow she had came nearly nose to nose with her partner. She cursed herself as she backed off. She had _promised_ herself that she wouldn't make them awkward again, and yet here she was messing up, _again!_

 _'Not the time'_ she thought to herself _'You literally almost_ _ **killed**_ _a guy and there's another one passed out behind you. Now's not the time to snuggle up with someone who isn't your_ _ **boyfriend.**_ _'_

 _"Bug, seriously! Wi-fi said you told them to leave you behind, we're worried. Please, answer!"_

"I'm here" she answered quickly, pushing her internal struggle away. "Everyone safe?"

 _"Yeah, Ladybug."_ Juleka's voice called. _"Bubbler caught up with your team, and I'm with Evillustrator right now. We're all out. Some a little more worse for wear, but we're out."_

"Where's Cupid?" she asked, knowing he'd left position before any of this started.

 _"We're not sure, he never came back."_ she answered.

 _"He hasn't answered any of us,"_ Rose said quietly.

Marinette sighed as she shared a worried glance with Chat. She knew he'd ran off due to Alix's absence, but he'd never checked in with them. She hadn't seen him on her way to find Alix, either. Where was he? Was he safe? Had he been captured?

She had to know.

"I'll find him," Marinette said, already moving forward. She'd circle around the building, try to find him that way. Maybe he'd taken the long way in hopes of avoiding guards? She couldn't just leave him out there, alone. She'd never forgive herself if anything happened to him.

 _"But LB."_ Bubbler said, obviously upset.

"You shouldn't go for him, you're barely standing." Chat said quickly, gripping her unharmed arm. Marinette didn't look back at him, knowing she'd see his disapproval.

"Someone has to." she replied before quietly mumbling, "You're hurt, you should meet up with the others."

Chat snorted at that and released her, coming to stand beside her instead.

"I'm gonna pretend you didn't just say that, and we're gonna go together." he crossed his arms at her unsure expression, eyes narrowing..

"Either together, or not at all." he continued, tone brokering no room for argument.

She couldn't help the small smile that rose from that.

She ignored Alya's begging over the earpiece, knowing that she'd pay for doing so later. She knew she was worried, that they were all worried. But Kim was her team mate, her responsibility. She'd brought him out here, and she wasn't going to simply give up on him. Alix would never forgive her, she'd never forgive herself.

Even so, moving forward was difficult, and creeping against the walls even more so. The only thing that kept her going was the knowledge that Chat was with her. Even with the comfort of his presence she couldn't fight how her chest ached; And it wasn't from emotion. The punch Gabriel's man had landed had really done a number on her. She was out of breath by the time they made it around the left side of the building.

They needed to find Kim, and quickly.

As if knowing her thoughts, she heard the stumbling of a form to the left of her, just beyond the bush line that followed their trail. She paused, zoning in on the sound. Maybe Kim had gotten hurt, and hid there? Unlike him, but possible.

Anything was possible when you were hurt and terrified.

She gestured for Chat to stay where he was as she walked towards the sound, following the slightest movement she saw from the top of the bush.

"Kim?" she called quietly, leaning forward to get a better look.

The form she saw barreling towards her, however, was definitely not Kim.

The man rushed out of the bushes, kicking at her leg and shoving her back. She yelped, falling back onto the pavement. She couldn't dodge the kick to her already sore stomach, and when she rose the can she'd still been holding to spray it at him, he knocked it away.

"You're an awfully troublesome bug." he said, "Our boss absolutely _despises_ you."

"Then I'm doing m-my job." she answered, taking advantage of his exposed stance to kick him between his legs. The man hissed and stumbled. She tried to turn over, to stand up, but he was quicker than her to recover. He reached forward and gripped her hair tightly, pulling her head back. She couldn't help but cry out.

"No more running, I know someone who really wants to meet you."

"Get your _pawful_ hands off of her." came Chat's voice, and suddenly there was the sound of a crunch as her hair was released. She fell forward, barely having the mind to catch herself. She glanced over her shoulders and saw Chat, bloody pipe in hand, breathing heavily, standing over the man who'd attacked her. She heard more movement from the bushes and froze, scanning the area for anything she could grab in case she was attacked. Her can was on the far side of the pavement, there was no way she could—

This time it _was_ Kim who stumbled out of the bushes, his right leg covered in blood, a long cut on his face. He was gripping his left arm close to his side, his fingers limp as he moved. Despite how obviously in pain he seemed, the only thing she could see in his eyes was relief.

She stood as quickly as she could, trying to ignore the flash of pain in her stomach. She stumbled over to him and immediately set to helping him gain his balance. She looked behind her and saw that Chat had finished the job, the man who'd attacked her was completely knocked out. Based off of the blood running down his forehead, she wasn't sure he'd be waking up anytime soon.

It scared her that the fact they may have killed someone, that she'd most likely _blinded_ someone, didn't bother her as much as it should. To them, this was war, and she was a commanding officer. She wouldn't kill if she didn't have to, but if there was no other way...

"Where were you?" She asked Kim, breaking herself from that train of thought. She wasn't in the frame of mind to handle that kind of revelation.

"I was looking for Al-" he paused, noticing Chat who was heading their way. " _Timebreaker._ But then that guy found me instead." he continued, glaring at the fallen man. "He surprised me, got me good. I ran into there to lose him but..."

"He followed." she answered for him. She felt Chat stand behind her, his chest brushing against her back. She leaned back to rest against him, too exhausted to care about the suggested intimacy that came with it. She instead focused on Kim and his worried expression.

"You look like a mess, too. Both of you." he commented, and she shrugged. Or tried to, but the pain in her body made it more of an extended wince.

"We had our own run ins, as well." she replied simply.

"Did you..." he stumbled over his words, gathering himself. Voice thick. "Did you find her?"

"Yes." Marinette answered. "She's hurt pretty bad, I'm not going to lie to you. But Fragrance is taking care of her. She may need professional care, though."

She watched as his form relaxed, the tears he'd been holding back falling.

"As long as she's safe. That's all that matters."

"We need to get going before more of them show up," Chat spoke up, breaking the moment. "I know it's been a hard night..."

"No, you're right." Kim responded. "Let's get out of here."

The three of them leaned against each other as they began the trek to the assigned meeting spot, hoping that they wouldn't meet anyone else along the way.

* * *

"I think someone or something gave away our plan." She explained to the remaining crew an hour later, wincing as Rose sterilized her gunshot wound.

Alix and Kim had to be taken to the hospital. His arm had been broken, and Alix needed blood, and far more help than a nurse-to-be could give. Alya, who had turned out relatively unscathed, had been the one to drive them. Hopefully going to a hospital on the opposite side of town was enough to not give anything away, she didn't doubt that Gabriel had connections to the hospitals. She could only hope they'd be safe.

"Any idea on who or what did it?" Nino asked, his wounds already patched. He'd been hit pretty hard by one of the guys, but him and Ivan had avoided most of the fighting. It helped they were both fighters, as well.

"Not a one." she responded, taking the towel Rose offered and winding it up."Unless Gabriel somehow figured me out, I've been watching this place for a while and there's never been this many guards around."

If he'd figured her out, her time as a free woman was limited. She'd need to start thinking up alibis, back up plans, anything she could to stay free. She shivered at the idea of him knowing who she was, of him cornering her at work. She'd have no way to escape then.

"We'll figure it out" Chat said from across the room,"And then we'll take care of it."

Chat had been incredibly lucky when it came to injuries. A black eye, some bruised ribs, and a scabbed over lip was all he walked away with. She wished she was that lucky, maybe they should switch names?

"Bite the towel, Bug." Rose said quietly, needle in hand.

She did so, closing her eyes tightly and trying to focus on anything but the needle coming towards her.

She'd find out what gave them away, and she'd fix it. If he found out it was her, she'd take herself out of the equation. If it was something else, they'd take care of it.

Pain filled her being as the needle made contact, and only the towel gripped between her teeth stopped her scream from echoing.

* * *

The next day came far too quickly. She was truly feeling what had happened the night before, now that she was awake. Her arm ached from where Rose had given her stitches the night before, and she knew that soon she'd have to clean it. Her legs were wrapped as well, apparently skidding against concrete over and over was bad for the skin, _who knew?_

As for her chest, dark purple had taken it's place against her skin. She had been lucky, incredibly lucky, that none of her bones were broken. But even though she'd been lucky, every breath she took still felt as if she was breathing fire.

Needless to say, the only thing Marinette wanted to do was recover. She was exhausted, she was in pain. She was heavily tempted to simply call in claiming she couldn't focus on her studies and needed more time to dedicate herself to her work. It was something Gabriel had informed her to do if she ever felt like she was behind, and she _desperately_ wanted to abuse it now. Especially since it was _his_ men who'd done this to her in the first place.

But at the same time, she knew she couldn't. Even with looming finals, calling off now would be far too suspicious.

She'd have to go to work, have to see Adrien and Gabriel and the fall out that came with last night's events. She'd have to risk going in despite the fact that his men had been waiting for her the night before.

She would have to take the chance and hope he didn't know that _she_ was Ladybug.

She glanced at herself in the mirror, a dark blue turtle neck covering all of her bruising, her makeup covering any of the slashes on her face. She looked tired, but it was far better than looking half dead.

"Let's get this over with."

* * *

 **A/N: My apologies for how long this chapter took to get out, this was incredibly hard to write for me as I had so much I wanted in this chapter! I rewrote it nearly three times, it was true suffering ahaha. Anyways, review if you'd like. Things are gonna get harder for our team soon, and I'm not saying anything about what could happen next with our favorite almost lovers.**


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